The father-son relationship that bolts this rugby film together provides the textured backdrop for a sports film that engages
Comment
04/18/09
Rate this Movie 
Forever Strong (2008)
32
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work
Reviews Counted:19
Fresh:6
Rotten:13
Average Rating:4.5/10
Synopsis: Rick Penning (Sean Faris, Never Back Down) lives life just like he plays rugby; fast, hard-hitting and intense for a team coached by his overbearing father (Neal McDonough, Minority Report). When... [More]
Starring: Gary Cole, Sean Faris, Arielle Kebbel, Julie Warner
Director: Ryan Little
Get This Movie
Rent DVD
Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.
Buy DVD
Reviews for Forever Strong
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating)
The very Tom Cruise-like Sean Faris makes this respectable portrayal noteworthy considering the gritty sport's irrelevancy to most Americans.
09/27/08
Uplifting jock drama is predictable but OK for older tweens.
06/17/09
While it does boast some of the expected tropes and formulas of cinematic sports dramas, it's a competent, entertaining and involving movie that features a decent message about self-discipline and redemption.
09/25/08
The movie is well shot and edited, the rugby scenes are enjoyable (if likely puzzling to the uninitiated) and Strong's earnestness excuses at least some of its predictability.
09/26/08
[Director Ryan] Little and cinematographer T.C. Christensen make you feel the heat in every scrum.
09/26/08
Click to read the article
10/18/08
Shares the secret sin of many a pigskin pic: Despite all the macho posturing, the corny story is just as sappy as anything on Lifetime.
09/24/08
Adhering to the belief that action scenes are more thrilling when you can't tell what the hell is going on, the director gives us just the "highlights."
09/21/08
Created under the vague guise of "inspirational cinema," Strong is a sloppy, soggy pile of clichés, unable to sort itself out, grow a pair of cinematic cojones, and actually try to subvert some of its rancid formula.
06/10/09
This earnest indie production comes across like formulaic fiction while taking cues (and recycling cliches) from the 'inspirational sports drama' playbook.
09/29/08
Top CriticThere's something disheartening about seeing real-life stories and their inevitable complexities put through the Hollywood sausage machine and transformed into bland parables.
09/26/08
Though director Ryan Little puts together a clean, professional package, at bottom this is a nearly-two-hour scrum of therapeutic direct encounters.
09/24/08
Contrived corniness abounds.
09/22/08
It's definitely possible to make artful message movies -- just consider the filmography of ex-Mormon iconoclast Richard Dutcher -- but Forever Strong is generic faith-and-redemption fare, devoid of nuance.
09/26/08
The whole package here is warmed-over mush from a hundred other sports movies, a tale padded out with game footage, training sequences, absurd coincidences, life lessons that teach nothing and wasted casting.
09/24/08
American rugby is the setting for this earnest sausage party of macho posturing, bro-dacious life lessons and value-focused sportsmanship that give wayward teens the strength to rise above sinful temptations.
09/24/08
Gives the word "forgettable" a bad name.
09/26/08
As directed by Ryan Little and written by David Pliler, Forever Strong dredges up every sports movie cliché and stereotype ever invented. (Cue the slow-mo in the rain.)
09/26/08
No review available.
10/18/08
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating)
Latest News for Forever Strong
August 24, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review 
More...
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
MSN's Year in Review
Take a look at MSN's choices for the Top 10 films of 2009.
Moviefone's Year End Poll
What were your favorites? Least favorites? The funniest and scariest? Moviefone wants to know!
Tarantino's Characters
Hollywood.com explores why QT's characters resonate so well with audiences.
Top 10 Movies of 2009
TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.
Top 20 of the Decade
Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds