User reviews

Maybe the cast was all they could afford. The plot is pockmarked with huge holes and filled with unnecessary events. If the leads were 10 when the story kick off, chronologically they would be in their 30s when they get married making it impossible to be "empty-nesters" then unless they also started parenting at 10. Not to mention the leads at 30 look 50!

The story incorporates a myriad of unnecessary events which should have been cut short. Maybe 10 mins for that before moving on to his role as coach, subsequent events related to it, his loss of job and the ensuing court trial which is what the movie was supposed to be about. Jumping from foster home to foster home, his life in the military, his love life - losing and gaining, marriage, all unnecessarily occupy a lions share of the already meandering plot. Or it could have started with the trial cutting back for a while to his childhood but only to introduce the character to the audience, and flashbacks of the events that directly led him to this point. There was a multitude of possibilities to not make this movie a yawner.

This is a low budget, faith based film that goes through a true story of a coach that stood up for the right to pray after football games as he was going to fired for that practice. This movie is not very well acted. It definitely feels like a cheap movie. This is one of those flicks that you are either interested in the subject matter at hand or you will not like it. There is nothing else there. Also if you are an old person you may get a few chuckles but if you are any one else the humor will fall flat That's all I have to say so here's a bunch of random words to meet the required charactes to post.

It's the supposedly real story of a guy who came from a poor family that had too many kids; fell in love with the first girl that he saw; betrayed his friend; beat said friend up; didn't care about dirtying his mom's clean house floor; skipped classes; got in trouble with the police; scammed people out of their money; disrespected his boss; didn't obey a direct order in the military; effed around instead of doing his job in the military; got a job due to white straight male privilege; disobeyed the education institution he was working for and a supreme court ruling; and yet he's being touted as an american hero in this movie.

I am not religious but I am religious about free speech. I am shocked that people are so confident that god does not exist that they would give such terrible reviews that are not fair or accurate. False witnesses beware.

I have learnt my lesson about critics. I almost did not watch this GEM due to hateful and inaccurate reviews. I would never want to mislead somebody and have them miss out on an experience like this.

Maybe Im biased because I just love a true story and I have been invested in human rights battles myself.

All in all a great watch. Had me captivated in the first 5 and kept me the whole way.

Anyone giving less than 5 stars has some personal issue and does not reflect the quality of this movie.

I say I am noyt religious and I am not, however I have seen some miracles and I believe in God more than I believe you hateful critics.

It's interesting to note that there are usually critics of movies that don't make sense.

Did they truly consider the plot and context of the story that was presented?

Joe Kennedy is interviewed in the beginning and shares with the audience about some aspects of his life.

It is not always funny and can be painful to see what took place.

It seems that there is significant reason not to change it to fit someone's opinion that may not deal with facts.

I appreciate Mr. Kennedy and his family allowing their story to be told and the legal aspects explained for religious expression in our country. It was difficult for them, and he made the effort to be a fighter because of God influencing him. That is what he said and I believe him.

There are some lighthearted moments. I enjoyed seeing the backstory behind the headlines that I was familiar with.

The football coaching was character training for the team. They supported his example, but he didn't force his prayer on them.

I would hesitate to consider a review that protests so much as if the movie goer can't make his own decision.

Having recently been put through the trauma of directors with passion projects like Joker 2 (what a mess, not a musical, not a drama, not a copy like the first and although well acted not a chance of any real emotion, never in my life have a cared less about a stabbing) and as for, and the Matromess with its waste of good talent.

I had the opportunity to watch this grounded, beautiful story of God using a seemingly ordinary person as he does to make real, meaningful changes to other people's lives, the fascist left has been all over this instead of hearing they have preconceived hateful things to say where they should have seen and been moved by someone fighting for everyone to have the right to worship in public they only want to stop and wave their sin in other peoples faces as a right but don't like it when someone chooses not to do the same. I pray for them and hope they can see the error of their ways, decide not to continue along the path of eternal destruction.

It is obvious to me, reading the bad reviews, that some people are more interested in hating Christians and all we stand for than in giving honest opinions based on the merit of the film itself. Christian films have come a long way over the years and I have been right there with them rooting them on! This was one of the best films, Christian or not, that I have seen. It was very creative in the approach to the filmaking and I found the story itself very well presented. The actors did a superb job and I found them engaging and very believable. No matter what your take on the real story, I believe the means the writers and director used to convey the story was refreshing and highly entertaining. I would recommend this movie to anyone regardless of their believe in God.

This is a very funny movie that will have you laughing from the beginning to the end, unlike many other true stories, despite covering one of the most important Supreme Court rulings in our lifetime. They way it is filmed and how the actors often step out of the firm and interact with the audience. Very funny to hear both husband and wife conflicting views of the same incident. It also has some high school football, how teams and coaches are family. It is also a heart warming and incredible story of childhood to late adult romance. It is amazing how Joe ends up happily married to his childhood sweetheart against all odds, obstacles, and hardships.

I have never made a review before, but when I saw how low this scored, I felt... compelled by some greater force to chime in.

As a grown man, this movie made my eyes water several times, and laugh quite a bit. The comedy is dad joke tier, but in the best way. It addresses family dynamics many raised by boomers will identify with. The ending was very satisfying and informative.

It isn't a big budget Hollywood movie, and in this day and age, that's exactly what is needed. The acting was solid and the storytelling was unique. The main characters break the 3rd wall a lot, which I understand, may be frowned upon by the "fine arts" snobs. This makes the movie very light hearted though, especially in parts with heavy subject matter.

Great movie to watch with the family on a relaxing Sunday!

Because I didn't read the reviews about bad acting until after I had purchased the tickets, I was apprehensive as I do not like cheesy Christian movies either.

I was very surprised when I found out that it was not the case.

I thought they did an excellent job of portraying the first difficult part of Joe's life, interspersing it with a little bit of humor.

I'm sorry that the Marine segment was inaccurate. I'm sorry about his sisters FB post, saying that he had not made restitution for the harm that he did.

I thank God for the mentor in his life that accurately portrayed the love of God.

I thank God for the example that he was to those young men as a high school coach.

I left the theater inspired and wanting to be more committed to representing the true character of God.

VERY well done. I thought it might be slow but it continually unfolded very nicely and kept my interest the entire time which I can't say of very many recent movies. It's not preachy at all! It comes down to the 1st amendment.... Anybody that doesn't see how our first amendment rights have been under constant attack is obviously a low information voter. Joe overcame a LOT of adversity to get where he ended up. If the storyline would have been about standing up for abortion I'm sure all of the ratings would have been higher But instead low information voters got on here in an attempt to tube it. The low rating score is NOT accurate at all. I really enjoyed this and you will too unless you're close-minded atheist or you don't care about our constitutional rights. This film was very uplifting, interesting and in the end very much a MUST-SEE film.

I'm not sure why the reviews are so low on this movie? It's a really well-made, well acted and interesting movie. I'm glad I did not let the negative reviews discourage me from watching it. I loved it.

It's very challenging to find a movie that is clean and actually has meaning behind it. This is a heartwarming and authentic movie about standing in faith, the power of prayer and a life without compromise. I also appreciated the authenticity of the pitfalls and imperfection of Joe's life. It was all very relatable. The way the story was told was also interesting where they were interviewing Joe and his wife.

I'm giving this movie a 10 simply because right now it's at a 3.3, and it doesn't deserve that low of a rating. Though I'm a Christian, I will usually avoid these types of movies because they are always unrealistic and horribly acted. Honestly, for a medium budget faith based movie, it's about a 6.5. Joe's young life was filled with abuse, and I felt the movie did a decent job of portraying that without going overboard. I'm sure it was much worse. This is a true story dealing with the hot-button issue of freedom of religion. That's the way I see it anyway. I'm guessing most non-Christians will not like it, but I thought it was well acted, above average, and it's an incredible story of fighting for faith and freedom. I would highly recommend to people who appreciate these values.