Media Product Review: Courageous

I chose to critique this movie because it is in fact different than the rest of the films you see today. Courageous shows the viewers more than just a movie or a catchy story- it shows the importance of family, it models the way Christian men/fathers should live their lives, and it teaches the lesson of being courageous in this life. I chose this film because it reflects my beliefs and my values. I saw so much more in this movie than an awesome story- I saw hope and a new beginning. It creates a new beginning for those who feel they can’t redeem themselves and have messed up in their lives, whether it’s a father leaving his family or a father not cherishing the time spent with his daughter until she is gone. Courageous teaches these men that there is another way of living, and there is forgiveness for all that they have done wrong. It shows hope, love, and faith through our Living God.

The director of Courageous is Alex Kendrick. Alex Kendrick, from Georgia, started working as a Christian DJ for two radio stations. He then attended the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, which lead him into ministry. He then served as a minister to college students for a total of four years, got married and then served as an Associate Pastor of Media at Sherwood Baptist Church. This led him to founding Sherwood Pictures where he began writing, producing, acting, and directing films. Kendrick’s previous work consists of: Love Dare making it to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, Flywheel (2003), Facing the Giants (2006), and Fireproof (2008). Courageous follows four men with one calling: to serve and protect. All as law enforcement officers, they face a challenge that none of them are fully prepared to handle: being a father. Protecting their community is second nature to these men, but striving to raise their children in a God-honoring way takes them down a courageous path.Check out more here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1630036/

Analysis

Courageous is similar to the rest of the works by Alex Kendrick, because of its emphasis on the belief system of Christianity. Courageous withholds many of the same elements as far as the importance of family, experiencing pain, but through it all growing closer to God. Courageous stands different from the rest of Kendrick’s films because its main focus is on being a father. Primarily being a father that honors and models our Father in Heaven. All of Kendrick’s films are created to change the perception of movies here in the mainstream of America.  Courageous is most definitely a film that stands apart from the others. There is talk about its killer plot and it’s standings on becoming a “must see film”. It is different because it doesn’t consist of the normal, yet horrible things of this world like- sex, appearance, style, social standings, etc. It focuses on the deeper and most rich qualities of life being the best father you can be, keeping your family close, and God high and lifted up. It’s about the men of this generation stepping up and being the courageous leaders they are created to be.

Interpretation

This piece may not be a priority in our culture, but should be. Men today aren’t stepping up to the plate like they should. Too often we see young fathers abandoning young women and their children- running away from their problems and parts of life that may be difficult. Most men today are not being courageous and stepping up when their families and loved one need them most. This film does nothing but demonstrate and model they type of men that should be leading their wives and family. Courageous exemplifies the trend in our culture that is lacking and failing to meet these standards of Christian men following hard after God. Our culture needs more men like Adam Mitchell, lead character in the film that starts the change of responsible and courageous fathers.  The target audience is clearly the young men of today, alerting them and modeling the type of men, husband, and fathers they are created and expected to become. There are stereotypes in the film such as: the African American gang members, the lower class community, the middle/upper class. There are parts of the film that people could see as offensive, but this movie is bound to raise arguments with those who don’t believe in Christianity and the existence of God.

Evaluation

The strengths in the film are demonstrations of responsibility, drive, courage, integrity, strong sense of morals and values. I believe a type of strength within the film is the acting- it is being performed by the one who directed, wrote, and produced the film. So therefore, you get a true sense of reality and natural occurrences.  Although I see Kendrick’s acting in the film as a strength, but I also see a lot of the acting in the film as a weakness. There were a few actors/actresses that weren’t great and caused a lack of interest and low quality. I thought on an overall scale that the movie was good and had more strengths than weaknesses. I believe this is one of the better pieces of work by Kendrick and raised his usual standards. The acting in the film, again weak in some areas, but much better than his other film- Fireproof. This is most definitely a movie to remember. I hear it coming up through conversation time and time again, and I don’t believe you will stop hearing about it for a while. Professional critics in the mainstream film producing of America were not fond of the film. It was something that they say evolves into over-the-top drama and a suffocating heavy-handedness. They say it raises pressing questions of religious sagas.  In my opinion, I believe it raises so many of these critiques because when it comes to displaying facts to the public- the truth hurts and they don’t want to admit to such behavior.

Top Critics' Reviews from Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten: Overplotted and understructured, "Courageous" is a slog to get through at 130 minutes. – Paul Brunick, New York Times, Oct 2, 2011

Rotten: Devolves into over-the-top drama and a suffocating heavy-handedness. – Keith Staskiewicz, Entertainment Weekly, Oct 2, 2011

Rotten: The many topics raised - gangs, drugs, immigration, absentee parents, poverty - are examined with didacticism and platitudes instead of by mining their inherent complexities. – Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, Oct 3, 2011

Rotten: Fails to answer the more pressing question of why religious sagas such as this treat subtlety as a sin. – Nick Schager, Village Voice, Oct 1, 2011

See more here from rottentomatoes.com--->  http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/courageous/

See more here from metacritic.com---> http://www.metacritic.com/movie/courageous

Engage

I have engaged in this subject by researching online. I looked up information about Alex Kendrick and his background. It helped a lot to know more about him and his style of work to be able to fully engage in subject matter of this post. I looked up previous work by Kendrick and compared previous movies to Courageous. All of my friends and family love the meaning and stories behind his work. We aren’t afraid to admit the overall outcome of the movie and that the acting isn’t awesome, but we do believe the storyline and subject matter is great and highly important and relevant today. My family loved Courageous and it is now a favorite in our Christian home. We see it as very inspiring, uplifting, and heart wrenching.

Summary

To conclude, I highly recommend Alex Kendrick’s latest film Courageous. If you are looking to watch an inspiring, eventful, uplifting, and faith intensive film- this is the one to watch. It will test your faith, your way of living, and make you question your view on life and if you are living your life to the fullest of your ability. I learned not only a lot about being a critic of a film, but I learned a lot about the background of the film and how it came about. I learned quite a handful about the director of the film and how he grew as a director, writer, producer, and actor to create such a master piece.