Faith On The Gridiron... "Woodlawn"

Woodlawn (2015)

Rated PG

Starring Nic Bishop, Sean Astin, Caleb Castille, Sherri Shepherd, Jon Voight,

Directed by Andrew Erwin and Jon Erwin

The Story:

Coach Tandy Gerelds (Bishop) takes over the Woodlawn High School team in Birmingham Alabama at the height of desegregation in the 70s. Trying to integrate his racially mixed football team proves to be challenging, but Hank (Astin) comes to ask if he can give the team a pep talk. Hank preaches about the love of Jesus and how they should all work together towards a common goal, and the message of love makes the team bond together and they go on a remarkable run through the season that inspires the entire community.

This is their story.

Faith.

Football.

Mix these two together and it should be a slam dunk (wrong sport, I know) yet there was something slightly off with this film. I can't pinpoint exactly what it was that just didn't register with me on this film.

Perhaps it was the length of the movie (a bit over 2 hours) or the repetitiveness that seemed to happen during the season. Sure, I get it, it's football after all, but it really seemed to just keep pushing the same three buttons over and over again and never really expanding any of the character focus.

Granted, these based on a true story films, you can only take so much creative license with, but it just seemed like there should have been more conflict based on the desegration or the faith inspiration than was really portrayed.

The cast was fine, with a lot of focus put on Castille who portrayed Tony Nathan in the film. The nice part, that while Woodlawn doesn't go on to have the happy ending you normally get in the movies, they do tackle a bit of Nathan's story to end on an upbeat note when he does finally win a championship and one of the first people that he calls is his old coach.

It's a good movie, just not a great one.


Final Grade: C

Oh Yes It's Ladies Night... "Moms' Night Out"

Moms' Night Out (2014)

PG

Starring Sarah Drew, Sean Astin, Patricia Heaton, Trace Adkins, Andrea Logan White, Robert Amaya, Kevin Downes, Alex Kendrick, Abbie Cobb

Directed by Andrew & Jon Erwin

The Story:

Allyson (Drew) has hit the wall. She feels like a terrible mom and if only she could get out for night to recharge her batteries.  Planning a night out with her two best friends (White & Heaton) while the guys (Astin, Amaya & Downes) watch the kids.  What could possibly go wrong?  Just about everything...

From the folks who have been bringing us some fine Christian dramas, they have turned their eyes towards comedy.

How'd they do?

Not bad, not bad at all.

Bringing in their biggest "names" yet, all the characters are given just enough space and room to be individuals instead of cookie cutter background characters.

The action and mayhem snowballs from a reservation gone awry to a lost child, and just about everything in between.

Is it too much?  Maybe...

But as a parent, you should recognize one of those days when one thing goes wrong, how seemingly everything else that could go wrong on that same day is about to happen.

There's several scenes that are downright hilarious, traffic stop, I'm looking at you.

Is there a Christian message tucked in there somewhere?  Of course.  However it isn't one that is delivered over and over (and over) again like a sledgehammer, so this film could be watched by people of just about any faith (or lack thereof) and not bristle too much.

At the end of the day, everyone gets a little frazzled in the world, and there's nothing wrong with that.

It gives you an opportunity to bounce back and recharge, and someday, maybe far, far down the road, you'll look back on your bad days and have a really good laugh about how rough it was.

In the meantime, you can laugh at their bad day instead.

Final Grade: B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I'd watch it again!