[.ca] Hometown Legend

Thoughts from producer...:
Just a quick response to Mr. Warren's review, as well as a thank you to all of you who have been so kind here... I don't want to be defensive (I'm fully aware of any of this movie's shortcomings), but I do want to make sure that potential customers are getting accurate information. We didn't intend Hometown Legend to be an evangelical film--he summed it up best when he said that if this were made by Hollywood, he would have been pleasantly surprised. Well, we ARE Hollywood, so the movie should be judged on its own merits. We didn't tone anything down, we simply told the story the way we felt it should be told. This movie wasn't about how to become a Christian, this was about a high school football team in a small town that also included some Christian characters. Any football movie about the South that didn't include God or prayer would be unrealistic. Regarding the coach's behavior, we never said he was a Christian, and even if he was, it is very common for high school football coaches to be demonstrative and even tempermental. We weren't making a Christian instructional video, we were simply trying to tell a realistic story. Are Christians only supposed to make movies that show perfect Christians and only tell stories that are "clean?" That would pretty much rule out the Old Testament, wouldn't it? If a Christian was an architect, is he only allowed to design church buildings or "Christian" houses? Of course not. We're filmmakers who happen to be Christians. Therefore, our worldview will obviously be represented in our work, like any artist, but that doesn't mean that we must use movies as our evangelical tool. If you want to criticize the movie for what is IS, that's one thing...but don't criticize the movie for what it's NOT. Unless, of course, you're saying "it's NOT a good movie." :) And for those parents who are concerned--Coach Schuler never calls anyone an ass. And a piss ant is an actual insect. As to the other complaints about certain words, to each his own...

Remember The Titans (LIGHT)!:
If you have seen Remember The Titans, this movie is similar, but doesn't have the same UMPHHH... The movie has some good acting, some good dialogue, and a interesting storyline, but the crowds and background scenes lack the professional Hollywood character. The best thing about this movie is that you can watch it with the WHOLE family - young, old, in between, Christian, atheist, or any sports fan can enjoy this movie while sitting together. It has a universal appeal, with only a few scenes being over-acted by the cast. All in all, pretty good film. Just not as good as Remember The Titans. www.therunninggirl.com

Jerry Jenkins Leaves God Behind:
This is the first film produced by Jerry Jenkins and his son, Dallas and their company Jenkins Entertainment. Jerry Jenkins is most known as a co-author with Tim LaHaye of the Left Behind series. The movie was released last year in limited theaters across the country and is now available on DVD and VHS. I first saw the movie at Zondervan and was excited that Jenkins was using his talents to produce Christian film. I picked up the DVD a few days later and eagerly anticipated what I was about to see. It didn't take long for me to be let down. Don't get me wrong, the film is well done. The acting is good and the story is intriguing. The problem is that all the things that make the Left Behind series so effective as a witnessing tool are missing. As one secular, unsaved film critic put it, Hometown Legend contains "a Christian message that is simply too soft to be effective or impressive." The greatest sin the film commits is the sin of weakness. The moral message is badly underplayed, in hopes of not scaring the secular audience away. The movies most "Christian" character, Rachel says early in the film that a great coach is "50% teacher, 50% S.O.B." She repeatedly fails to use oportunities to witness to Elvis. When he says near the end of the film, "I don't have what you have." She merely responds, "You can." No gospel, no mention of Christ being what is different about her. In the end she hooks up with the still unsaved, albeit nicer and changed, Elvis. This is symbolized by a pasionate kiss. She does pray to open the movie and asks Elvis, "Have you ever dared to think there's something bigger than you?" This is the closest thing to presenting the gospel in the film. Other problems pop up throughout the film. A player is hit in the groin and the coach tells his teammates to help him "pop his nuts out." Coach Schuler calls a player an ass and an opposing coach a piss ant. He also is a hothead. He yells at the refs, throws things, and kicks players off the team for not joining a fight after a game. He is reminiscent of a Bobby Knight on the football field. When later in the film he has the team pray before a game, it seems out of character. During a talk with the team he makes the sacreligious statement, "Unless Jesus Christ Himself comes down here on a white horse" the team won't win. Allusions in the film to drugs and alcohol add to the confusion. I must say that had this been a movie made by Hollywood, I would have been pleasantly surprised that it was relatively wholesome and thankful that there was any allusion to faith in God and prayer. However, knowing it was a film produced by Christians, disappointed is an understatement. Jenkins stated that, "Our script wasn't preachy or evangelical." He is definately right. Portrayals of Christians like those in this film only hinder the testimony of Christ. Our lives and message must be distinct. In the opening scene, Rachel prays for God to "show up and show off." Unfortunately, Jerry and Dallas Jenkins did not do much to allow God to do either.

A good start...:
Probably a good movie for adolescents (certainly as good as any other film in it's genre - 'Remember the Titans', 'Breaking Away', 'Hoosiers', ad infinitum) but not much meat for adults. The one thing that distinguishes this film from the others is it's Christian flavor, (the film was apparently made by those with a decidedly Christian world view) and that's worth noting. I have no doubt that many secularists were turned off by the repeated references to God, the explicit Christianity of a central character, and the overall lack of a profane tone to this pigskin flick. I'm sure they feel the movie was somehow besmirched by the injection of religious doctrine into a film that should have been left untainted in all it's football virginity. What's laughable is these folks don't realize how propagandized they've been through the years by all the other sports movies they've seen. Religion, specifically BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANITY, is a key, vital and central role to almost any successful football franchise at any level. From Reggie White to Deon Sanders to Kurt Warner, Joe Gibbs and Darrell Green (and those are just the pros!) football is led, filled with, and dominated by dedicated in-your-face Born Again Christians. The fact you see virtually NONE of that in almost all the other supposedly 'realistic' football films, (Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday and ESPN"s The Playmakers come first to mind) is an indictment of how hostile-Hollywood has scrubbed every vestige of Christianity from it's presentation of team sports in a manner that would've made the Soviet Union quite proud. Ever wonder about that? How come so many of the elite professional athletes are honest to goodness God worshippers, yet even the most modern films about these sports give, at best, a mere tip of the hat to 'the man upstairs'? You cannot overstate the influence of born again Christianity in sports today. From the most recent #1 NBA draft choice to the MVP of last year's Super Bowl, these guys have all publicly and repeatedly declared how important Jesus is in their life. So, in that context, this film, despite being made with the hopes of at least being quasi-evangelical, is actually quite timid. (It's quite enlightening to see how Christians, even when making their OWN statement on the subject, are still so brow beaten by the hostile mainstream culture, that they tread so lightly.) Born again Christians, at least in this country, truly are a persecuted MAJORITY. The film is cute, has a nice unpredictable ending demonstrating silver linings and is bereft of most of the schmaltzy stuff that dooms similar films of this ilk. However, the hot female protagonist is still sort of a 'savior' to the unsaved football hero, which makes it no different than secular films in this regard. I mean, normally the woman flat out IS the flawed hero's savior. In this film, it's a Christian girl, but she's still the one who he 'needs.' Unspoken message: Men need women to civilize them. Let them teach us about God. Not exactly Gen 2 if you catch my drift. Long story short. A small step for man, but not much of a leap for The Kingdom. .

A good start...:
Probably a good movie for adolescents (certainly as good as any other film in it's genre - 'Remember the Titans', 'Breaking Away', 'Hoosiers', ad infinitum) but not much meat for adults. The one thing that distinguishes this film from the others is it's Christian flavor, (the film was apparently made by those with a decidedly Christian world view) and that's worth noting. I have no doubt that many secularists were turned off by the repeated references to God, the explicit Christianity of a central character, and the overall lack of a profane tone to this pigskin flick. I'm sure they feel the movie was somehow besmirched by the injection of religious doctrine into a film that should have been left untainted in all it's football virginity. What's laughable is these folks don't realize how propagandized they've been through the years by all the other sports movies they've seen. Religion, specifically BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANITY, is a key, vital and central role to almost any successful football franchise at any level. From Reggie White to Deon Sanders to Kurt Warner, Joe Gibbs and Darrell Green (and those are just the pros!) football is led, filled with, and dominated by dedicated in-your-face Born Again Christians. The fact you see virtually NONE of that in almost all the other supposedly 'realistic' football films, (Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday and ESPN"s The Playmakers come first to mind) is an indictment of how hostile-Hollywood has scrubbed every vestige of Christianity from it's presentation of team sports in a manner that would've made the Soviet Union quite proud. Ever wonder about that? How come so many of the elite professional athletes are honest to goodness God worshippers, yet even the most modern films about these sports give, at best, a mere tip of the hat to 'the man upstairs'? You cannot overstate the influence of born again Christianity in sports today. From the most recent #1 NBA draft choice to the MVP of last year's Super Bowl, these guys have all publicly and repeatedly declared how important Jesus is in their life. So, in that context, this film, despite being made with the hopes of at least being quasi-evangelical, is actually quite timid. (It's quite enlightening to see how Christians, even when making their OWN statement on the subject, are still so brow beaten by the hostile mainstream culture, that they tread so lightly.) Born again Christians, at least in this country, truly are a persecuted MAJORITY. BTW, I am not joining the cheap shot choir of those judging the film for childish reasons, like the alleged use of 'piss' or 'ass' in the dialogue. Sorry, superficiality is NOT a Godly character trait. (Perhaps, I should say is gnat.) Overall, the film is cute, has a nice unpredictable ending with silver linings, and is bereft of most of the schmaltzy stuff that dooms similar films of this ilk. However, the hot female protagonist is still sort of a 'savior' to the unsaved football hero, which makes it no different than secular films in this regard. I mean, normally the woman flat out IS the flawed hero's savior. In this film, it's a Christian woman, but she's still nonetheless the one he 'needs' to show him the way. Implicit message: Men need women to civilize them. Let them teach us about God. Not exactly Gen 2 if you catch my drift. Long story short. A small step for man, but not much of a leap for The Kingdom. .