Faith-friendly filmWhen the Game Stands Tall chronicles events after the De La Salle High School football team from Concord, Calif., loses its 12-year winning streak—the longest in football history—and is faced with finding its way back to the top. Jim Caviezel plays Bob Ladouceur: coach, Bible teacher, and overall mentor for a brotherhood of players looking to become good men.
The movie is quick to connect competitive sports as a means of character development, but the moments in the Bible classroom become stronger opportunities where a teacher shows his students and their parents what discipleship principles are.
The film spends time heading in many directions by telling the individual stories of the coach and of players (some real and some fictional), but the focus of the film returns to the team itself asking how these individuals come together to build community. (Sony)
About the Author
Ron VandenBurg is a Christian school teacher and a theatre and media buff. He is a member of Jubilee Fellowship CRC in St. Catharines, Ontario.