My dad just took three of my sisters, one of my brothers, and me, to see Courageous. In my opinion, it's the best of the Kendrick brothers movies so far. For one thing, it had the least CCM in it of any of them, for another the kind of cringe worthy parts were far fewer, and the message was incredible. Not only that, but the acting was very good for the most part and, well... I just liked it a whole lot. I've been hearing good things about it for a while, and wanting to watch it, but we thought we'd have to wait until it came out on DVD. But then, we found a theater close enough that we could go. Who has seen it, and what did ya'll think about it?
I think my favorite character was Javier. He was great, and really funny. And the very first and last scenes of the movie were extremely good.

I haven't seen it yet. I do want to, but I'm not sure if the theater near me has it playing soon or not. Perhaps I shall look into that.

I haven't seen it, I have heard about it from HWSF. What is it about? Is it by the same people who did Fireproof and the others, I can't remember their titles right now.

Yes, the Kendrick brothers, Alex and Stephen.
Basically, it's about five men (four police officers and a Hispanic construction worker) who are learning what it means to be Biblical fathers. Lots of politically incorrect stuff in this movie. You have been warned

*wants to see it* Anyone know when the DVD comes out?

Not sure, but I'm hoping it's soon. My mom and brother haven't been able to see it yet, because William had to work, and it wouldn't have worked for my mom to come She's so sweet, she had been going to go, but she stayed home to let us go

These are my favorite quotes...


"Do you have kidney problems?" "No..Do you?!?"


"I'm going to get some fries, and maybe even a milk shake!"


"What's his full name?"

Very good movie. I've been following the movie's progress ever since the guys announced they were going to begin production and sent out for men and women to pray for the production from day one. I loved getting all the updates on how things were going, seeing sneak peek clips, and I knew it was going to be good. It was. I went opening weekend.



I think it is impossible to compare the Kendrick movies, myself personally. Their stories are very different. They impact people differently. They will change the lives of different people.

In fact, I would say that this movie disturbed me more than their other one. I recognize it is because I've been in the position of Alex's family. I know what they are going through. I've had the same thoughts, the same dreams that make you wake up in bed crying. So I think the cringe worthy parts were actually more. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to sit through the movie. And I know people who didn't think they were going to be able to sit through Fireproof or Facing the Giant because they were so personal.

I loved the ending, though. Alex’s presentation was awesome, and every person in our sold out theater rose out of their seats and clapped when it came to the end.

Courageous is AWESOME!!!

I just got back from seeing it a second time. As a film Academy attendee, I knew a lot about it -- a lot as in almost the whole film -- and I'd seen several clips. I still managed to love the film, and cry almost the whole time (except when I was laughing).

Stephen and Alex Kendrick are so on fire for God and so faithful, and I believe that is why God blesses their films to touch the hearts of people because they honor Him.

If you ever have a chance to hear Stephen Kendrick speak, you should. It's so inspiring, and his zeal is infectious.

I love listening to both guys. They are powerful speakers!

I loved that presentation, too. When I saw a sneak peak of it on Youtube, I thought it would be corny, but really, it wasn't. It was great. I expected everyone to start clapping at the end, and I wish I had started clapping to get it going. We had a lot of people there, probably the seats were over half full, and at least one lady was there for the second time, and her husband had come with her this time.



I loved that kidney problem quote. My sisters and I were trying to say it like Javier said it the other day. And I also loved how he was scaring the gangster by talking in Spanish about what he would be getting to eat
There were several places in the film where everyone in the theater was laughing really hard

I loved the scene with Javier in the car being the Snake King.

I saw the trailer today, it looks really good. I listened to the Courageous song by Casting Crowns as well, which was used in the film.

OK, I just saw this movie yesterday with Sui and co. And be warned: if you haven't seen the movie, don't read this post I'm not going to black it out with spoiler text simply because it'd be a wall of black

So. I definitely liked Courageous. Kait, I must confess and hand in my tough guy badge. I cried. Multiple times *shrugs* Some parts just hit me hard.

Emily's death was really unexpected to me - I thought it was really well done and they had the gospel all through that part! *sighs happily* It just felt so...different to go into a movie theater and hear that! Probably my favorite part of this movie was that the cross of Christ was involved so much more than the previous ones (I felt).

I really really thought that the scene where Emily and her dad are watching TV, and then Emily goes to bed, and looks back, and Adam just flips the channels boredly. *shivers* That was probably my favorite clip in the entire movie. (Also, did anyone else notice that the news report and interviews that were playing on the television were talking about the house that burned down in Fireproof? Where Caleb rescued the little girl, Lacie? Those interviews are actually in the deleted scenes of Fireproof =D).

I thought Adam's son was well-done, too =) I think the makers of the film were hesitant to cut many scenes from the main character's story, which is why Adam's family can seem almost lopsidedly developed compared to the other four guys (see below =P)

A couple people have said that there wasn't enough reliance on God to complete the 'fatherhood' ceremony thingy. I'm sort of on the fence about this one. It did seem to me that they relied a little too much on just 'having witnesses' and 'being strong' and 'I'm the father!', but I also didn't feel like they weren't relying on God. All of the main characters pray, asking God for strength and guidance (some of them multiple times, like Xavi). I would have liked to see some more in this regard, but it's a pattern Sherwood pictures has had throughout all of their movies (Both Facing the Giants and Fireproof also had characters resolving their goals without all that much reliance on God. Granted, Facing the Giants is about football thus on a different level, but Grant's family problems were there too).

I really really liked David. I don't know why, but that character just...really touched me. I think that, to me, he showed some of the most courage especially with how things like that end up in real life, usually. I would have liked to see more of him and his story throughout the movie, but like Sui said, the movie should have been three hours to fit in all the stuff we wanted them too =D

Shane was underdeveloped, I felt. The drugs issue came up sort of out of the blue and wasn't foreshadowed hardly at all (Sui and I found one place: Shane was over-eager to sign the resolution once Adam came up with it, probably because he wanted an alibi for the drug problem). I just felt like Shane's character wasn't developed enough to make us care that he got put in prison. Again, the movie would have been better in three hours. *grins*

Nathan and his family was well-done, I though, although I was a little disappointed in Jade. I was expecting more development, and maybe some rebellion with her boyfriend; instead we didn't have much and it made things feel strange when the boy (forgot his name XD) saves Nathan from being shot because he was 'Jade's daddy.' *shrugs* I just felt that whole plotline was lacking.

Xavi was great. Beyond great! "Do you have a kidney problem??" I really liked the flair he put into the movie and it was nice having a non-cop in there still having trouble. And the Snake King was absolutely hilarious! "Eu vou comprar uma batida!" Our entire theater was busting up at that point =D

I did feel that the working on the shed coincidence was a little bit too coincidental, but it led to some great dialogue! =D Xavi's promotion at the Coats and Clark (that's very Georgia, BTW! Toccoa has two C&C, though they're both closed down =D) was pretty predictable that it was a test, and he was going to get promoted. Still *shrugs* I liked Xavi. A lot. =D

My main beef would be that none of the dads really had directly parenting-related problems in the movie except for Adam. Sure, Nathan had some (little) rebellion from his daughter, but not very much. And Shane and David both had to face up to their kids whom they left, but that was more sorting out their mistakes rather than actually dealing with challenges in parenting. Xavi's troubles were more about providing for his family then his relationship with them.

So, I loved the movie. But my conclusion is this: Hollywood is still better at knowing what gets cut out of the movie without making some parts seem underdeveloped. *shrugs* That's the main thing I saw with Courageous. They had good storylines going, and I think they cut scenes that developed these scenes further, like I was talking about, but they aren't so skilled as Hollywood at cutting scenes and still having a full story. If anything, other scenes should have adjusted to compensate for the loss of development we have in the cut scenes.

I don't know for sure -- I haven't seen the deleted scenes or even ones that were considered but never filmed. But that's my guess as to why some parts just seemed underdeveloped to me.

Technically, the film was way better than Fireproof, even. Supposedly its budget was four times greater, so that might have had something to do with it ;D But they went the whole nine yards with cop chases, everything. I also think they had more actors this time then ever before, and you could definitely see more camera angles and budget on that side of things. In techincal terms, the movies are getting way better every time. I'd say Courageous would be the first that's truly on par with a Hollywood movie (Fireproof was well-done but had some bad acting).

Violence: lotsa violence, movie might not be good for smaller kids. Drug involvement is also in there. It's a high-tension movie. It's real life, but it's cop chases and gangs. It's also a nine-year old girl dancing. I'm not a parent, but I wouldn't want my small kids watching this movie until they were older, maybe eleven or twelve. *shrugs again* =D

There's my entirely too-long review. Happy, Kait?

*smiles * I told you it had an unexpected tragedy. I'm glad you cri- I mean! Glad you liked the movie.

I would agree with lots of your points, and disagree with some, but I'm actually only going to address one thing you said.



Actually, this isn’t strange if you understand the culture he is coming from. You have to remember, this kid has sought out the gangster scene for family and acceptance. This is actually one of the most predominant reasons that so many boys end up in the gangster lifestyle.

Jade is a nice girl. We get that. But we also get that she has a Daddy who’s gonna take care of her. And this boy sees that connection he craves. He not only sees it, Jade’s Daddy confronts him, stands up to the boy, and tells him no. Which is another thing young men entering the gangster world crave. Authority. They have none. The likelihood is they’ve never really had an authority figure, especially not a male one.

His reasons for protecting “Jade’s Daddy” are actually very understandable, but you have to come at it with a gang mentality. Just thought I’d throw that in there.


*is happy with monster post *

Admittedly there are some major weak points that just glare out at me personally. Most of y'all have stated them. But the thing is: going into a theater and seeing a film that, not in the vein of a majority of Christian films (my theory is because TriStar came along Sherwood for this one), is high high quality with some excellent dialouge and filmmaking. And it has a solid important message. Rarely does a film to theaters that has a message of importance (this one and The Tree of Life) are that two of late that I can think of.

I just read an interesting blog post on the subject: http://mikeduran.com/2011/10/grace-to-g ... t-edition/ Don't say another word until you have read this. It is very, very interesting.

Mike Duran is awesome.

And I agree. However, Courageous, in the vein of Christian films, is superior than most. Most films I have seen cannot compare to the artistic skill The Tree of Life, The New World, 2001: a Space Odyssey

I agree that we should be able to critically assess all films, including Christians.

I also know from firsthand experience that Fireproof did change a life. In fact, it changed two. And it saved a marriage that was already going through a divorce. So I disagree with people who say that these movies do not affect people's lives.

I was quite impressed with Courageous! I love the fact that a Christian movie is becoming so famous, and I'm thankful they explored such an important topic.
My main problem was that there was too many plots. I mean, they were great plots, and I totally support the way they showed all the struggles that those fathers were going through... but there was just too much. I don't know which plot they should have skipped, because I liked them all, but still... The World reviewed it, and had some great comments on it as well.
In other words, I really liked it, but I'm picky.

I want to see it in theater to see the trailer for Act of Valor on the big screen.

I'll end up seeing it at some point, my sister is a huge fan of these movies.

Like Andrew said, I went and saw it with him, Caleb and my co. Sunday afternoon. I loved it. =D

(btw... don't read any farther if you haven't seen the movie)


@Kaitlyn *chuckles* Andrew told me he would have to eat his words. Would you like me to cook his words rare or well done?


Completely agree. =D


I did? Where?


I mostly agree here. With that one foreshadow part I noticed, I don't think it meant that he wanted an alibi, I think his flippant remark foreshadowed how he wouldn't really be committed to the resolution. That he would be just as quick to break from his promise as he was to make it. But, yes, there should have been more foreshadowing (at least one more).


I completely agree! Xavi's flair made him my favorite character. =D


I would disagree about the shed being too coincidental, but I agree about the promotion being predictable. (Yep, very Georgia. I live next to one of the old C&Cs. )

I would also add one thing to that monster post (which was nice btw ): the email that the sheriff read at the beginning, in my opinion it was too abrupt. I think it would have worked if they had developed the sheriff more, but as is, the sheriff wasn't developed enough to be reading the email that held such an important note for the rest of the movie.

That's my half-monster post (the other half was stuff Andrew said ).

Ah, I forgot about the Sheriff's email - yeah, that was sort of abrupt.

Kaitlyn, that's an interesting point. I'm not sure how much that would have carried over from just one meeting, but I can see where you're coming from, I guess.

eru

Well, yes, he only met him one time, but you must remember he's been hanging out with the daughter at school. Jade loves her Daddy, even though she doesn't always agree with him. I'm sure she mentioned him more than once. My Daddy comes up in conversation a lot.

I think they had a sufficient reason for why he protected her father. I think they could have done better in showing the why, but there were a lot of storylines they were trying to balance.

I'm just reading everyone else's posts. I'm reading well-thought out criticisms, storyline flaws, acting quality, etc. You all have some excellent points, especially since as authors we should be picking apart stories and seeing what's strong, what's emotional, what's touching . . . and what's not.

But... I loved every bit of that movie. I very very rarely cry during movies. I did so here.
"I laughed, I cried... it moved me, Bob" ~Larry the Cucumber. XD
It was powerful, inspiring, moving, and totally awesome.
But that's my opinion.

My opinion on Shane's character. I thought he made sense. He was Adam's best friend at first. Loyal. Supportive. He took his job seriously . . . on the outside. What struck me was his parallel to his dad.
"One time my dad told me that if he ever caught me drinking, he'd beat me senseless . . . and he was holding a beer can in his hand. I couldn't respect a man who was such a hypocrite." (rough quote, paraphrased).
As an officer, part of his job was to bust drug dealers. He was supposed to stop drugs from spreading, and he talked the talk. But secretly, he's stealing the drugs and selling them. He became a hypocrite just like his father.

Ahh! I loved that preview. Like I told my mom, "My adrenaline started with that preview, and didn't stop until the credits of the movie."
My only problem was the Footloose trailer shown, but Act of Valor made it worth it.

But anyway, this movie showed me how hard a Dad's job. I found myself looking at the whole parenting thing differently. I respect my parents even more after watching Courageous.

Good point.

*Shouldn't read these posts as she hasn't seen it but is doing so anyway*

I'm loving the reviews you guys are writing up.

@Celestria: Good points about Shane.

eru

*pokes eruheran* I'm Ciela.

But thanks anyway.

When will I ever stop making those embarassing name mistakes My apologies, Ciela.

eru

Ahem...if you have not yet watched it, DO SO!!

I was choking back sobs through the whole movie. Except for when I was laughing, and the funny scenes just made me crack up.

Now, I'm surprised that nobody has done a rave about the first scene, so I will here. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE YET, DO NOT PEEK UNDER THE SPOILER. DON'T.
Okay.
I found it understandable that Nathan would yell and run after his car a little, but, when he jumped halfway through the window and refused to let go, even out on the highway, I started thinking, "What? He is just being so stupid. Come on! The car is not worth your life, everyone knows that! Let go before you kill yourself!" And then...the car crashes...he crawls over...opens the door...and there is his baby boy, crying in his car seat. Wow. A cold chill flowed over me. Didn't it do that to you? Wasn't that the most amazing scene in cinematic history?

You are wanting to click the spoiler, aren't you? You're thinking to yourself, "Oh, it won't do any harm to get it spoiled for me." Well, YES IT WILL. Watch the movie, or at least the first scene, then you may click the spoiler.

Oh, and, a few days after I saw it in the theater, I was listening to KLTY radio, and the song "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman came on. It's a sweet and touching song, but a certain scene in Courageous was too fresh in my mind and I started crying. Tears leaked from my eyes and my voice wobbled badly as I sang along. If you haven't heard that song, go listen to it on Youtube or somewhere and bring along a hanky.

P.S. It would be fun to have a crying-but-smiling smilie.

Okay, this post will be a spoiler, but not as critical, so I won't hide it.

I went to the movie already knowing that the little girl was going to die. I had watched the trailer carefully several times, looked at all the photos on the Courageous website, and even watched the Casting Crowns music video, and I pieced it together.
See, I saw that Adam had a daughter, who appeared near the beginning of the trailer and the list of photos, and then, when it shows him hanging the Resolution on the wall, Emily is not there. So, I was already pretty sure what the tragedy was.
But, that just made the phone call all the more chilling. The phone was vibrating, he couldn't hear it...I knew what it was. And I was dreading the moment.
I do not know the pain of losing a child. But this movie helped me to understand it.

Heehee, four posts in a row. I was just trying to avoid a monster post.
You should watch this movie. You really should.
One more thing: I think the PG-13 rating was just about right. I'd recommend it for 12-13 and up, I think. Agree?

"Bye, love you!"

Mmmm. It could've had a PG, except for some intense scenes. I wouldn't have let my little sisters watch it in theaters, though.

I watched the first scene, and I was thinking something along the line of "What is he doing?" Then when he opened the car door and we saw the baby, I started crying. I couldn't help myself. That scene was definitely one of the best in the movie (one of the best I've seen, actually).

I was choking back sobs during the scene you just mentioned, Aemi. Now if they had played Cinderella, I would've bawled, no doubt about it.

Four posts, Aemi! I keep trying to reply, and everytime I hit "Preview", you post something else, therefore I have to address it too. Enough!

Eru, you're forgiven.

Uh, heehee, sorry. I just can't help but rave.

I understand. Therefore, you are pardoned.

I absolutely LOVED this movie!!!!
But even though the mentioned above scenes were tear worthy (and I did cry, yes)....The scene that made me cry the most was the ending scene where Adam is calling out the men and then some of them start to stand to acknowledge their role and commitment to being a Godly man!!
Oh my goodness, I was crying until we got to the car it just shook me so much, I guess the fear/lie that I believed that there was just no good men out there in the world was just relieved and the movie gave me hope.....
It was very powerful!
Praise God!
Ana

Now see, you guys had it easy!!! I've been following the progress of the movie since the Kendrick brothers put out the first post that Courageous was now in the works. So I had watched every clip they gave us as "sneak peeks". The opening scene was one of those. So I had watched the clip, thought the same things you guys did "come on man, are you serious?". Then they would also cut off the clip right after he crawls to his truck, and before he sees his son. It drove me nuts waiting for the movie because I knew something was up.

Ana, I loved that scene too. And there were many men in our theater who rose when the call was made.

That's awesome.

It was.

I finally saw Courageous, and I enjoyed it.


That was one of the funniest gags I’ve seen.


My take on it was that he probably still had hope for him and Jade, but he knew that the hope would be gone if he was indirectly involved in her father's murder.


That was a really good scene.

I know how you feel, Andrew. I'm one of those people that hates to cry, I'm pretty sure I didn't have any tears (at least not on my face, it's possible there were some in my eyes, but not many because I would have been sniffeling then) until right after one of the funniest scenes in or out of that movie, and then the part where that little girl's older brother voices his wish that he'd been a better brother, since I already had tears from laughing so hard, I think that a couple ran down my cheeks, even though I wasn't openly weeping or anything-they did that on purpose! They cheated! I wouldn't have had tears if they hadn't been started by all the laughing! I was pretty much doing this: but laughing right before that scene. Though this sad scene about being a better big brother is the most personal scene in the movie for me.

Anyway, I really liked the movie, at least one quote was disturbing, though: "He listens to you because you honor Him" sounded too much like a works-based faith, like "As long as you honor God, he'll look out for you!" Which in turn implies "As soon as you dishonor God, or don't honor Him, he'll ignore you and drop you." But I think that was the only part I didn't like, aside from what others mentioned about depending more on God at the resolution ceremony, etc.



That is one of my favorite scenes.

I love the movie. It's the best produced film from Sherwood yet, but also one of the best stories. And, honestly, I think one of the reasons I like it so much is because it isn't quite so EVERYTHING WORKS OUT GREAT at the end. In Facing the Giants, his team won, he finds out that he's finally going to be a dad, and to top it all off he gets a new truck. Flywheel and Fireproof are like that too. Great movies, don't get me wrong. I'm just glad that Courageous doesn't end so perfectly.

And yes, I cried. A lot. Through the entire movie. Sometimes I was even crying while I was laughing. Hard.

Javier is an awesome character, too.

And the 'Love you, bye' scenes nearly had me rolling on the floor. Really. I was laughing that hard. It was difficult to breathe, let alone keep upright.




I utterly agree.

I saw it! Very touching movie. I loved it. It had an amazing lesson to teach the viewers...

I thought I'd posted here, but apparently not! So here goes.

I have now seen Courageous. I think it's the best film they've done to date, in my opinion. It's message was clear, and I think it was much needed. The acting was better than usual, in my opinion.

There was one thing that I didn't like, but it must just be American humour. I was like.... and Mother didn't like it either. But only that small, tiny thing. Mother and I cried a lot, laughed some and just thought it was amazing. Kathy and Rachel also watched it later and loved it. Dad said he thought it was good, but sad. We all liked it.

I bought it, it's now on my shelf.

I have no clue if anyone has mentioned this yet since I don't have time to read through the whole thread, so please forgive me if it has.

Has anyone read the book? It was AMAZING. I read it before the movie came out (and before the book came out, but that's a long story) and was actually a bit disappointed it didn't include some points that were in the book. Andrew asked early on if anyone noticed that the news Adam was watching was about the Fireproof rescue. I did, but manly because I was waiting for him to come back into the story! Caleb had a small part in the book

I would go on some more with my random ramblings, but sadly don't have time I might be back though...

What thing are you referring to?

I wasn't aware that there was a book, Riah. o.0

*was about to ask the same thing*