"Courageous" shows us Kendrick Bros. have made it in Cinema....

Kendrick, pictured here in a scene from "Courageous"

Well, they did it.

With all of Hollywood laughing in their faces, critics tearing their films apart and the audience baffled at how such a poor quality movie appeals to them, they did it.

The Kendrick Brothers have made a worthwhile film.

Now this will not be the review that Alex Kendrick will frame and hang in his church office or Stephen will place next to his computer (It wasn't a PERFECT movie), but it's their best film so far. It has all the dreadful trademarks of a Sherwood Pictures flick: Uninteresting opening shots (this one was bad even for them, it was like wathcing a youtube home video at first), abrupt plunge into the story, acting that makes you cringe every 5 minutes and Kendrick's direction is less than stellar. But they somehow find a way to distract you from all that yet again (and with only a $2 million budget. I might add, which still foils my mind!) I think they have found their niche with providing Christian-themed stories (filled with preachy lectures and over-emphazised themes) nestled safetly in the hold of exciting action sequences and cool effects. They present yet another movie christians can go to without feeling embaressed at the box office.

First they harken back to the audiences that raved for "Remember the Titans" and "Friday Night Lights" by playing on the High school football/rigors of school life plot in "Facing the Giants", then they cover the seldomly covered but painfully clear issue of pornography and it's effects on marriage built inside the life of Firefighters in "fireproof". Now they stick with the subject of public service by telling the story of 4 Cops in a small southern town in "Courageous". The story centers on Police Officers Adam Mitchell (Kendrick), Nathan Hayes (Ken Bevel), Shane Fuller (Kevin Downes) and David Thomson (Ben Davies) who come from different backgrounds and stations in life but all share in their day-to-day struggles with being a good father to their children and husband to their wives. They excel as Cops in keeping peace and curtailing crime on the streets, but many of them find they have little effect in their own homes. Later on in the story, Javier Martinez (Robert Amaya) a down-on-his-luck construction worker adds a "non-law enforcement" Character to the plot, but stuggles to find a share with the 4 leads in the main stream of the story. One day Mitchell, whose shortcomings as a father are made very apparent come to hurt him when his young daughter Emily (portrayed by an adorable and delightful Lauren Etchells) is killed in a drunk driving accident, tearing Mitchell and his family apart and putting even more strain on his relationship with his already estranged teenage son Dylan (Rusty Martin). Mitchell comes to the decision that he must make a conserted effort to play a larger role in his son's life and be an example to other men to follow in his footsteps and become the fathers that children grow up to revere as true men of character and strength.

I'll start with the negatives that i didnt mention above: first of all, is Javier a Main Character or not? Most would assume that because of the amount of the story devoted to him and the integral part he plays in the rest of the lead's plots, he is. But, he's not included in the movie posters, we stumble onto him after the first 20 minutes of the movie and you're not sure why they have him in a movie about Cops and living a life as a father/Cop. The only reason I can come up with is they didnt want the movie to be labeled "Another shoot 'em up, good cop/bad cop story that is pervasive in movies and is downright cancerous in Television! Another negative is the role the wives play in their husband's lives. They add banter scenes and all but only Javier's wife adds story and depth to his story. The biggest disappoitment is with the ex-girlfriend of Thomson, who he abandonded after an unplanned pregnancy occurs. Hints and signs of a reunion and possible reconciliation are apparent, but in the end that entire part of the story falls flat on it's face and nothing is resolved or answered. But for all it's faults, the movie is overall a big success and a big step foward for the Kendricks. The special effects and action sequences are top notch and rival any action film, the cinematography gets better as the movie progresses and the story has such a great message of revival of fatherhood and a nostalgic look at what fathers really thin of their kids. This will be a movie that will stay close to the dvd players for years to come and is a benchmark for christian filmmakers can literally shoot for.