Overcomer

Overcomer

Starring Alex Kendrick, Shari Rigby, Aryn Wright-Thompson, Cameron Arnett

Directed by Alex Kendrick

The Story:
In a small rural town, John Harrison (Alex Kendrick) teaches history at the local Christian school, but his main passion is coaching basketball.  When the local plant closes and relocates, the town suffers as many of its citizens move due to the fact that most of them work at the plant, threatening John's basketball dream team.  With many of the other coaches leaving the school, John is enlisted to coach cross country, much to his chagrin because he hates running and doesn't consider it a sport.

John holds tryouts for the team, but only one girl is interested - Hannah (Aryn Wright-Thompson), a transfer student with a chip on her shoulder, who also has asthma.  John is adamantly against coaching her, but with the prodding of his wife Amy (Shari Rigby) and the school's principal (Priscilla C. Shirer), he begrudgingly agrees to help her.  What follows is a life-changing event for everyone involved, and showcases the power of faith and finding out who you really are.

The Synopsis:
Brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick have been responsible for a slew of campy, cheesy, corny, and downright nearly unwatchable faith-based films like "Fireproof," "Courageous," "Flywheel," "Facing the Giants," and "War Room" - films that only the most devout of Christians would even remotely enjoy, and I speak as someone who's a Christian myself.  Each one is equally boring, dull, predictable, lifeless, and trades any coherent story for a quick sermon and salvation message.

Going into "Overcomer," I had the feeling that I was going to experience the same type of lame faith-based films that should've just been relegated to Lifetime, Hallmark, or whatever network the Christians listen to nowadays.  The film begins with two different stories that they could've tackled - a town dealing with a real-life issue of having their biggest financial industry being taken away from them, and also a man who has to do something he really doesn't want to do - and both are abandoned for a surprisingly moving, heartfelt, and actually real story that - while it still also offers the typical salvation message - actually was pulled off effectively, if only the film would've focused on those characters solely.

The main heart of the film arrives about twenty minutes in, when we see young Hannah emerging from the woods and stealing a kid's expensive headphones.  She outruns them and we find out that she has asthma, but is also an extremely decent runner.  We don't know why she steals, but there's something to this character that draws us to her.

The same cannot be said for the supposed main characters of the film - doting, loving, perfect husband and wife John and Amy Harrison - and their presence often hinders the story rather than helps move it along.  We learn John loves basketball (as he repeats it ad nausea), and is against coaching the cross country team (which, again, we hear ad nausea).  Alex Kendrick (who also writes and directs) is clearly a one-note actor, who can't showcase real emotions or feelings but rather goes through the literal motions of his own story in a way that's like watching cardboard.  Equally, Shari Rigby plays Amy like the most perfect, doting mother and wife ever, who never raises her voice, causes an argument, or does anything remotely wrong.

Thankfully, once Hannah enters the scene, the film shifts its focus to her and her compelling story.  Hannah wants to race cross country, but has asthma, which is really a deep hindrance for such a desire.  Yet Hannah is determined, and we see her struggle through it and overcomes (get it?) the odds to get to do what she loves to do.  Yet this is just the widow dressing to the story, as there's an extremely deep, powerful subtext underneath that comes to the surface and makes this much more than another generic faith-based film, but a family drama that's excellently acted and performed and surprised me how much I was moved by it.  This is due in large part to newcomer Aryn Wright-Thompson, who gives Hannah a unique voice and subsequent talent that's undeniable and infectious.

Yes, there's several moments that faith and salvation is mentioned in the film, but it doesn't feel as forced or preachy as the Kendricks' other work.  There's no church here, but rather we see real Christians doing real things - unlike the Christians we seem to witness in our world nowadays who choose to worship false orange-haired gods rather than the one who created them.  There's a compelling question asked throughout the film that really makes you think - who are you?  The answer isn't quite that easy, but through thoughtful reason, you reach deep into your own life and answer that thought-provoking question for yourself.  As for me, I'd say I'm someone who was pleasantly surprised by a film such as this to have an emotional resonance I didn't see coming.

The Summary:
Despite their other work, the Kendrick brothers deliver a thoughtful, intriguing story that's still faith-based but not jammed down your throat, and delivers a terrific performance from a young newcomer who truly overcame the odds and won over my heart.

The Score: B