Courageous Review
Courageous is a story primarily focused on four men; all of whom are police officers. These men go to work each day facing many challenges and dangerous situations, however at the end of the day their “real” job begins; fatherhood. Each man’s story is different; whether it’s a father who struggles as a single parent, a father who had a child out of wedlock, a father who does not want to parent like his deadbeat dad, or a father like Adam (Alex Kendrick). Adam is a hard working police officer, happily married with two kids. His life dramatically changes one day when tragedy strikes his family. As Adam turns to God for strength and support, he figures out how to handle his heart breaking situation, and how to become a better father, one that God wants him to be. This is an amazing faith filled, inspirational story, one that will have you laughing and crying throughout the movie.
Rating: 4 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: September 30, 2011
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Talking Points:
Even though this film is about fatherhood, it is filled with some wonderful messages for kids, which will spark some great parent/child conversations. When Adam’s family is faced with a crises, Adam turns to God, he later tells his son, “What I want for you is that you seek the Lord, that you trust Him, even if it means you’re standing alone.” This helps his son cope, as he also struggles with their situation.
Adam feels that he’s been a good enough father, but wants to be a great father. He wants to know what God expects of him as a father. So Adam takes the initiative, and writes a resolution expressing his commitment to become the best father he can be. His goal is to always love and protect his kids, and teach them to trust in God. He and his friends have a formal ceremony and commit to their resolution. This is a great for husbands to see.
Since the main characters are police officers, it’s mentioned that crimes are linked to kids without fathers. The film stresses the importance of fathers and the important influence they have on their children’s lives.
There’s another great storyline about Adam’s friend Javier. He was faced with a temptation at work, which would ultimately give him a big promotion. I don’t want to give too much away, but this storyline demonstrates another great lesson about doing the right thing.
With each man’s story and difficult circumstances, they all turn to God. Adam says, “I want to trust Him. I just don’t understand what He is doing.” His pastor replies back by saying, “He doesn’t promise us explanations, but He does promise to walk with us through pain.” Once again, another great conversation with your kids!
The movie does get a little too long; it’s 130 minutes. Though I loved the film, I feel it could have been shortened just a bit.
Sexual Content: Mild
- It’s mentioned that a character had a child out of wedlock, he said that he “hooked up,” with a cheerleader in college, and that he didn’t love her.
Violent Content: Moderate
- Since the film is about police officers, we see some disturbing scenes dealing with gangs and drug dealers. There are many fist fights, shootings, and a lengthy police chase.
- We also see a gang kicking a boy on the ground, we later find out that was an initiation rite.
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- There are drug dealers in the film, we also see a plastic bag filled with drugs.
This film focuses on fatherhood, though no matter if you’re a mother or a father, our roles as parents are more important than anything else we do. Courageous has many wonderful thought provoking messages for the whole family. However with the mature subject matter, and some intense police scenes, this film may not be for your kids. Depending on the child, I would recommend this film for kids ages 10 and up.
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