Woodlawn (2015)

Powerful

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Just a terrible film, plot didn't make much sense and missed the chance to capture a truley remarkable moment in history

Don't let the low scores fool you into not watching this movie. It is genuine, deep, moving and a feel-good movie. Well-written and a really good cast. Do yourself and your family a favor and watch it, together.

You gotta believe. If you don't, it don't matter much, because there are others who do and they will persevere. Something along those lines could be the message of the movie. It doesn't mean that everything will always be good, but you can either be a cynic about it or enjoy this for what it is.Based on a true story this surely takes liberties (no pun intended). I'm pretty sure that other believes may have similar inspirational stories, so depending on your stance and your willingness to dive into the Christianity aspect of it (and all the hurdles thrown into its way of course). If you can and want to, get to watching, otherwise forget about it.

As a Christian movie Woodlawn is getting quite a bit more play than in the normal circuits where these films run, not unlike God's Not Dead from last year. First and foremost it's a story about football and in Alabama the folks down there do love their school football. They also love their fundamentalist religion so when coach Tandy Geralds played by Nic Bishop decides that religion might be a unifying force for his team it's a fertile field he's plowing. Woodlawn High School in Birmingham is recently integrated via the courts and racial tensions run high. After all this is a city that a decade earlier was ground zero in the civil rights era. No way in a million light years could Bishop get away with bringing in a team evangelist in New York City for instance. But Sean Astin preaches a whale of sermon and the team commits to Jesus. Pretty soon the coach does as well and they start winning.A lot of that is also due to having an amazing running back Tony Nathan played here by unknown Christopher Castille. Years ago I remember Casey Stengel saying he'd tolerate a lot of rowdy behavior if he had a centerfielder who could hit like Mickey Mantle. The good behavior religious based or not is a bonus.I just watched a DVD of Woodlawn with an extra bonus featuring some of the real people of the story. They said that out of 43 players all but three committed themselves to Christianity in that scene with Sean Astin giving an altar call. I'd dearly love to know the story of those three and the enormous social pressure they must have been under.Will anyone make that film?