Review of Courageous (2011) by Drspoc — 09 Oct 2011

As a frequenter of movies I continue to ask myself one question "What should I be feeling?" Many movies can deliver a great and enjoyable story, but what's lacking is the amount of emotion that the viewer feels.

Courageous is able to bring that feeling of joy, sadness, and relief to the viewer in spades. Never have I been to a film that's made me want to cheer for the good guys and want to beat the crap out of the corrupt ones.

If there's one thing this movie does perfectly, it's evoke emotion. Even in scenes that I had no reason try tear up for, I still did, the emotion is just that powerful. As far as performances go, they're mostly solid, besides a few hiccupy lines I felt as if all the characters were believable enough and allowed for a more immersive experience.

The only problem I found with the film was the story, I felt as if some of the fathers didn't get enough screen time, I don't want to spoil anything for you, but some get waaay less time than the main dad.

This hurts the experience in a way that made it less of a 'band of brothers' ordeal in which they try to become better fathers, and more of a 'I'm a cop who has family troubles and am going to steal screen time from my other cop friends so that they can only tell their awesome stories in montages'.

But as far as the narrative goes it is one that is heavily Christian and heavy on fathering a child. The introduction scene makes this very apparent, with a thrilling sequence that ties the viewer in and keeps them going for the whole film.

But the movie won't spend all of its time beating you over the head with emotion, suprisingly, there are some very funny moments, one in particular that takes place in a cop car. This allows the viewer time to break up the tense and emotional atmosphere and adds more life to all the characters, allowing for more immersion, which is always a good thing.

Overall the movie feels very segregated into one section, will non Christians enjoy it? I'm not sure, it depends on your religious preference, do I think this is one of the best father son movies of the year? Without a doubt.

If you're looking for a great film that will tug at your heart strings and evoke emotions you didn't know you had, you've found it, as far as Film of the Year goes, this is one my heavy hitters.