I saw this movie on Sunday with 58 of our church members. And there really isn’t much I can say about it that you  probably have not already guessed. “Overcomer” is another Kendrick movie. They are wholesome, heart string pullers with mediocre acting and this one is no different. The story line is about a coach losing his basketball team and finding his identity in Christ. He then ends up coaching an asthmatic girl in cross-country. There is also a sub plot regarding her that was the heart-string puller. The movie focuses on who our identity is in Christ and that He is the one who defines us.

We took our family of eight and most of them liked the movie. The younger ones liked it more than my older ones. Unfortunately, the movie was predictable, but if you generally like Life-Timey Hallmarky movies or love the Kendrick movies, you will also like this one. I am not at all into this genre of movie. I went because my kids begged me and I like hanging out with my church, but if you like sappy movies, you’ll love this one!

I did cheer on the little girl running and there were some sweet moments in the movie and I like that the Kendrick brothers portrayed a very “Christian” family. It reminded me of how movie cultures can impact us negatively or positively and this movie motivated me to be a better mom and wife. It also hit Christian hypocrisy hard, and I was grateful for the obvious exhortation.

I didn’t like the “repeat-after-me salvation prayer” Priscilla Shirer lead the little girl in. But I did like that she pointed her to Scripture afterwards, I just wish the prayer would have been her own maybe after reading the Scripture recommended by Shirer. Other than that, the movie was tolerable for me and afterwards the kids and I had a good conversation about hypocrisy and identity – two very important topics in this generation.

Please don’t get me wrong, these movies are good and needed. And I am so happy that more and more are coming out to provide other options to a lot of the filth out there. I just wish the stories were better and not so predictable. In the real world, sometimes our prayers are not answered. Sometimes we lose. Sometimes there is no healing.  And all these awful experiences point us to another home where there is complete healing and where we have already won! So let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us!