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Facing the Giants (2006)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 4.1/10
Reviews Counted: 24
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 21

The tropes of both football and evangelical movies are gracelessly on parade in this banal, insipid drama.

Average Rating: 3.6/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 0 | Rotten: 5

The tropes of both football and evangelical movies are gracelessly on parade in this banal, insipid drama.

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Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 84,665

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Movie Info

A failing high-school football coach finds that in order to succeed he must convince his team that there's more to sports than fame and glory in an inspirational tale of courage on the gridiron and the power of God's word. Grant Taylor (Alex Kendrick) has been coaching the Shiloh Eagles for six years, and he has yet to realize his dream of a winning season. When the team's star player transfers schools, the first three games of the new season show no promise for improvement, troubles at home

PG, 1 hr. 52 min.

Drama, Faith & Spirituality

Directed By: Alex Kendrick

Written By: Alex Kendrick, Stephen Kendrick

In Theaters: Sep 29, 2006 Limited

On DVD: Jan 30, 2007

Box Office:$10.1M

Destination Film

Facing the Giants Trailer & Photos

Cast

Alex Kendrick
Grant Taylor
Shannen Fields
Brooke Taylor
Steve Williams
Larry Childers
Bailey Cave
David Childers
Jason McLeod
Brock Kelley
Tracy Goode
Brady Owens
Chris Willis
J.T. Hawkins Jr.
James Blackwell
Matt Prater
Jim McBride
Bobby Lee Duke
Mark Richt
Tommy McBride
Shannon Fields

Critic Reviews for Facing the Giants

All Critics (24) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (3) | Rotten (23) | DVD (5)

By preaching to the converted so heavy-handedly, the filmmakers fumble an opportunity to reach beyond their target demo of devout churchgoers.

October 2, 2006 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comments (8)

Joe Leydon

Variety

Top Critic

Facing the Giants feels like an overly earnest church sketch of the type many evangelical congregations use as a teaching tool on Sunday between the worship music and pastor's message.

September 30, 2006 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times

| Comment (1)

William Lobdell

Los Angeles Times

Top Critic

The wholesomeness of the message and the movie's cast make it feel 1950s retro.

September 29, 2006 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel

| Comments (2)

Roger Moore

Orlando Sentinel

Top Critic

I'm not about to argue with the message, but the delivery system sinks below the level of after-school special, and the acting matches.

September 29, 2006 Comments (3)

Robert Denerstein

Denver Rocky Mountain News

Top Critic

The religious proselytizing in this football movie is about as subtle as a blindside hit by a 300-pound defensive end.

September 28, 2006 Comments (6)

Jeff Strickler

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Top Critic

Faith-based pigskin tale.

December 18, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

| Comment

Heather Boerner

Common Sense Media

If only Facing the Giants were a film first and a ministry tool second. While the message is heartfelt, there are times when you almost want to shoot the messenger.

September 26, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

| Comment

James Plath

Movie Metropolis

Kendrick needs to learn that didacticism isn't a film aesthetic.

September 26, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

| Comment

James Plath

Movie Metropolis

The separation of church and cinema amounts to a long yard at most in this high school football sermon from Georgia-based Baptist pastor Alex Kendrick.

August 27, 2009 Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

| Comment

Rob Nelson

City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

Earnest but amateurish.

January 30, 2007 Full Review Source: EDGE Boston

| Comments (3)

Phil Hall

EDGE Boston

In a season in which Invincible and Gridiron Gang already have laid claim to the title of inspirational football movie, this looks like an also-ran.

December 15, 2006 Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City

| Comments (2)

Jeff Vice

Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Its feel-good storyline, shopworn message, and bottomless sermonizing would have played better in Sunday school than on the big screen, which is -- let's face it -- Babylon's turf.

November 25, 2006 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle

| Comments (4)

Josh Rosenblatt

Austin Chronicle

Here's a badly acted movie with a terrific story line that makes it well worth seeing.

November 14, 2006 Full Review | Comments (3)

Linda Cook

Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

A sermon much more than it is a movie.

November 10, 2006 Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

| Comments (3)

Paul Doro

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Most of the actors read their lines earnestly but flatly, and Kendrick has done them no favors by pushing them to play broad comedy in some scenes and anguished drama in others.

October 27, 2006 Full Review Source: Kalamazoo Gazette

| Comment (1)

James Sanford

Kalamazoo Gazette

Fitfully entertaining… To reach a broader audience, though, the filmmakers will have to scrap their playbook and learn a whole new set of rules.

October 27, 2006 Full Review Source: Decent Films Guide

| Comments (2)

Steven D. Greydanus

Decent Films Guide

Would seem sincere enough, but it's just a chain of ludicrous cliches of both the sports and religious variety.

October 8, 2006 Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion

| Comments (5)

Frank Swietek

One Guy's Opinion

For it to have any appeal for persons who do not share the movie's beliefs would indeed be miraculous -- it's appallingly bad as anything other than a sermon.

October 4, 2006 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

| Comments (11)

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Facing the Giants falls victim to the tell-don't-show brand of filmmaking, in which every character always says exactly what he's feeling and every time a character's flaws are pointed out to him, they are immediately corrected.

September 29, 2006 Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press

| Comments (3)

Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)

St. Paul Pioneer Press

Those looking for an evening's diversion will find it an amateur exercise that has the feel of a film-school project.

September 29, 2006 Full Review Source: Seattle Times

| Comments (3)

Ted Fry

Seattle Times

If it cannot avoid the clich�s of both the sports film and the inspirational film, at least Facing the Giants leavens its message with good humor.

September 29, 2006 Full Review Source: Kansas City Star

| Comment (1)

Robert W. Butler

Kansas City Star

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Audience Reviews for Facing the Giants

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this is a really inspiring movie. my expectations for it were on the floor before i watched it, but i actually really liked it.

September 5, 2009

Thomas Bowler

Super Reviewer

Facing The Giants is better then "Friday Night Lights", but not quite a "Remember The Titans." It stands as my second favorite football movie ever. I watched this with not high hopes as I did not know any of the actors and honestly I dont really care for religion. I personally am Agonostic and do not really know if I

October 27, 2008

Bobby Hobbs

Super Reviewer

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