While I wouldn't dare call it a perfect film, I would be so bold as to call it a film that ministers in the way that a Christian should minister.

| Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 7, 2020

Faith-based pigskin tale.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 18, 2010

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

| Original Score: 6/10 | Sep 26, 2009

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.

| Aug 27, 2009

Earnest but amateurish.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 30, 2007

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.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 15, 2006

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.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 25, 2006

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

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 14, 2006

A sermon much more than it is a movie.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Nov 10, 2006

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.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 27, 2006

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

| Original Score: C+ | Oct 27, 2006

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

| Original Score: D- | Oct 8, 2006

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.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Oct 4, 2006

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

Full Review | Oct 2, 2006

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.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 30, 2006

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 29, 2006

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

| Original Score: 1/4 | Sep 29, 2006

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

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 29, 2006

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.

Full Review | Original Score: D+ | Sep 29, 2006

When a film is as unintentionally corny as this one, it's anyone's guess as to how many viewers can stomach all the schmaltz for the positive message at the end.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Sep 29, 2006