{"id":1856,"date":"2012-01-17T14:03:37","date_gmt":"2012-01-17T19:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=1856"},"modified":"2012-01-17T14:30:27","modified_gmt":"2012-01-17T19:30:27","slug":"new-to-dvd-courageous-serving-life-mark-wahlberg-on-prayer-and-his-catholic-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/01\/new-to-dvd-courageous-serving-life-mark-wahlberg-on-prayer-and-his-catholic-faith.html","title":{"rendered":"New to DVD today: &#8220;Courageous&#8221; &amp; &#8220;Serving Life&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here are today&#8217;s dispatches from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Courageous <\/em>and <em>Serving Life <\/em>out on DVD today (1\/17\/12).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1.<strong><em> Courageous <\/em>surprisingly good &#8212; but hits some of its notes rather hard.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Courageous (2011) - Official Trailer [HD]\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/emyBSTL2zjw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This latest effort from <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sherwood_Pictures\">Sherwood Pictures<\/a> (<em><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Facing_the_Giants\">Facing the Giants<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fireproof_%28film%29\">Fireproof<\/a><\/em>)\u00a0 the film production arm of\u00a0 Sherwood Baptist Church located in Albany, Georgia, scored big when it was released in 2011 as another little Christian film that could from the brothers Kendrick. It not only had good legs at the box office but it scored a rare A+ <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/CinemaScore\">CinemaScore <\/a>rating from film goers<\/p>\n<p>Alex Kendrick, an associate pastor at the church, stars in the film as Adam Mitchell, a dedicated southern cop whose world comes crashing down around him following the senseless death of his young daughter.\u00a0 Kendrick (who also directed and co-wrote the film with his brother Stephen) actually turns in a moving and convincing performance. In fact, all the performances are quite good.\u00a0 Ken Bevel has particular presence as Nathan Hayes, as African American officer trying to be a better dad to his daughter than his no-show father was to him.\u00a0 The theme of the importance of fathers in their kids lives is what drives the film and, for the most part, it really works. Alex Kendrick&#8217;s direction is fine and the the action sequences are well staged too.<\/p>\n<p>The movie is at its best when it simply follows the characters through their struggles on the streets, with their families and in their own hearts &#8212; such Adam&#8217;s struggle to understand the sudden death of his daughter and his realization that he has to decide whether to be angry about his loss or grateful for gift of the time he was allowed to share with her.\u00a0 Characters do turn to prayer in this movie which is refreshing to portray &#8212; because people do, in fact, do that even it its somewhat rarely portrayed these days in Hollywood films.<\/p>\n<p>Like <em>Facing the Giants <\/em>(I didn&#8217;t actually see<em> Fireproof<\/em>)<em>, Courageous <\/em>presents flesh and blood characters in believable situations &#8212; for somewhere between half and two-thirds of the film. The problem\u00a0 comes when the cops\/dads at the story&#8217;s core agree to sign a Father&#8217;s Resolution promising to uphold Biblical values when raising their kids. I have no problem with the sentiment (and sentiment, BTW, is not a dirty word) but it&#8217;s at this point when the script shifts into a sort of preachiness I think it would have been better served to avoid. It&#8217;s not that movie characters should never ever enunciate what they&#8217;ve learned but such scenes should be done carefully &#8212; so as to reveal a character&#8217;s personal growth. They should not come off as heavy-handed lectures to the audience. It seemed to me that <em>Courageous<\/em>, unfortunately, slipped into some of that.<\/p>\n<p>But, then again, who am I to argue with an A+ from CinemaScore audiences?<strong><em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>2. <strong><em>Serving<\/em> <em>Life<\/em> documentary serves up heart-rending yet inspirational chronicle of a prison hospice.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Serving Life - Trailer | OWN Documentary Club | Oprah Winfrey Network\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DzPzmeieXPE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As I wrote earlier: Narrated by Forest Whitaker and originally airing on Oprah Winfrey\u2019s OWN cable channel, this Odyssey Networks production is as compassionate as it is gritty and among the most-powerful documentaries I have ever seen. It\u2019s also poignant reminder of the power of forgiveness and the humanity that exists inside everyone. <strong>Recommended.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Encourage one another and build each other up \u2013 <\/em>1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are today&#8217;s dispatches from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. Courageous and Serving Life out on DVD today (1\/17\/12). 1. Courageous surprisingly good &#8212; but hits some of its notes rather hard. This latest effort from Sherwood Pictures (Facing the Giants, Fireproof)\u00a0 the film production arm of\u00a0 Sherwood Baptist Church located in Albany,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9,1085,14,24,31],"tags":[35,1240,819,2245,362,2248,2247,2250,1329,2249,1429,2246,1239],"class_list":["post-1856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic-church","category-christianity","category-forgiveness","category-gratitude","category-movies","category-television","tag-1-thessalonians-511","tag-alex-kendrick","tag-courageous","tag-facing-the-giants","tag-fireproof","tag-forest-whitaker","tag-ken-bevel","tag-mark-wahlberg","tag-odyssey-networks","tag-oprah-winfreys-own-cable-channel","tag-serving-life","tag-sherwood-baptist-church","tag-sherwood-pictures"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>New to DVD today: &quot;Courageous&quot; &amp; &quot;Serving Life&quot;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/01\/new-to-dvd-courageous-serving-life-mark-wahlberg-on-prayer-and-his-catholic-faith.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New to DVD today: &quot;Courageous&quot; &amp; &quot;Serving Life&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here are today&#8217;s dispatches from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. 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This latest effort from Sherwood Pictures (Facing the Giants, Fireproof)\u00a0 the film production arm of\u00a0 Sherwood Baptist Church located in Albany,&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/01\/new-to-dvd-courageous-serving-life-mark-wahlberg-on-prayer-and-his-catholic-faith.html","og_site_name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","article_published_time":"2012-01-17T19:03:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-01-17T19:30:27+00:00","author":"John W. 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Kennedy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations &amp; Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1856"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1865,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1856\/revisions\/1865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}