Run the Race

Run the Race

Starring Tanner Stine, Evan Hofer, Kelsey Reinhardt, Frances Fisher

Directed by Chris Dowling

The Story:
High school brothers Zach (Tanner Stine) and Dave (Evan Hofer) live in a small Florida town, where their mother recently died of cancer, and their father Michael (Kristoffer Polaha) is absent and a chronic alcoholic.  The only real family member is their godmother Louise (Frances Fisher), who serves as the saving grace for the two young men, as they live in their family home alone and participate in sports - until Dave suffers a severe injury that ends his career.  Zach goes on to become his school's best player, but after an accident tears his ACL, he can no longer play, and can't earn a scholarship to get him and his brother out of town.

Throughout, Dave keeps his faith in God, while Zach struggles with loosing his mother, and how God could allow so many bad things to happen to his family.  This drives a wedge between Zach and his new girlfriend Ginger (Kelsey Reinhardt), who's a devout Christian.  As Zach wrestles with God, Dave takes it upon himself to save both himself and his brother from the one horse town, but could have some deadly consequences.

The Synopsis:
Faith based films are rarely decent, rarely good, or even rarely watchable - and that's coming from a Christian.  When your biggest name is Kirk Cameron, you know you got troubles, and "Run the Race" is no exception (although last year's "I Can Only Imagine" was actually very good) - a film produced by Tim Tebow and his brother (who make cameo appearances in the end in a very self-centered fashion) that tries to mimic "Friday Night Lights" but fails way before the third disastrous act.  If this truly was a race, it would be like a soft jog for the first 90 minutes before tripping over itself again and again, collapsing in exhaustion a few inches from the finish line.

When high school football protege Zach suffers an injury that sidelines him from the rest of the season, his hopes of earning a scholarship and getting out of his one-horse town fades with his future hopes and dreams, and not even his faith-filled younger brother or faith-filled new girlfriend can really help him see the big picture.  So his brother Dave decides to try to earn a scholarship of his own so he can get them both out, even though he suffered a crippling injury of his own on the football field, and it's a decision that could be deadly for the young man.

What I find unintentionally hilarious about faith based films is that the main characters are supposed to be relatable, but they literally get thrown everything at them (including the kitchen sink) in a way that comes off as totally implausible.  Their mother died suddenly of cancer.  Their father is an alcoholic deadbeat.  They live in a small town where everyone knows everything.  They live in their family's house (by themselves, which doesn't make a lick of sense since they're supposed to still be in high school and seventeen at the oldest, even though they look well into their twenties) on the wrong side of the tracks.  They never seemingly go to school or do any homework.  Dave suffers from seizures, yet he's seen driving a car (which I'm pretty sure wouldn't be allowed).  Zach suffers a career-halting injury just before he's about to get a scholarship.  There's more, but that'll be giving spoilers away, and even though this isn't a film I would advertise seeing (unless it's to make fun of it, there's a lot to make fun of here), I won't give anything away.

So basically these kids are the current embodiment of Job in the Bible, and of course one is a super strong Christian while the other isn't, and has questions regarding God's justice - which is the only saving grace of the film.  For once, a faith based film doesn't wholly rely on devout Christians to lead the film start to finish, but actually has the main character struggle with valid questions - while having dinner with his girlfriend's Christian family, Zach tells her dad that he struggles with how God would allow evil people to live to a hundred yet take good people like his mother at an early age, which is an incredibly valid question.  The odd thing is: there is no answer given.  You'd expect a Christian film to actually give a reason for such complicated questions, but they're glossed over for another montage with country music blaring as the two brothers run through town.

The actors do fine jobs here, especially the two young leads.  Tanner Stine plays the cocky, arrogant, suave, hardened football player well, as Evan Hofer plays the Christ-through-everything younger brother equally fine.  Acclaimed actress Frances Fisher shines as the boys' godmother, while Kristoffer Polaha plays the typical drunk father in typical fashion.  Again, the acting here is better than you'd see in a church play, but below that of B-list soap stars.

It seems that they had a core concept for how they wanted this film to go, but couldn't find the path to get there, so they abandoned that idea and instead relied on strong Christians to see the film and spread through word-of-mouth, while offering no sense of conclusion.  The third act alone is extremely off the rails, takes you by complete surprise, and seems like a haphazard way of tying everything together in a very uneven and loose bow.  Basically, it's your typical faith based film.

The Summary:
While trying to convey an important message about struggling with your faith, "Run the Race" instead becomes a self-serving pet project of Tim Tebow, a film that jogs through most of its padded runtime before tripping on its own shoes and never finishing the race it sets out to start.

The Score: D