Review: ‘Forever Strong’

FOREVER STRONG

Cast & Crew:
Gary Cole… Coach Larry Gelwix
Sean Faris… Rick Penning
Neal McDonough… Coach Richard Penning

Written by David Pliler
Directed by Ryan Little

Rick Penning (Faris) plays high school rugby but a drunk driving accident lands him in juvenile detention, which leads to events that force him to play against the team his father (McDonough) coaches at the national championship.

The three lead actors lend their fine performances to a screenplay that is pretty predictable but if you can get past the “been-there-done-that” feeling, then you may take a shine to this modest little film. I imagine that FOREVER STRONG will appeal to the same crowd that enjoyed like-minded films such as GRIDIRON GANG, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS or even RUDY.

But… if you don’t dig on slightly predictable sports films with not-so-subtle positive messages, well why would you think of watching this? It’s not your bag, baby.

Before I start feeling too kind, let me share with you a couple of problems this film has. One, what the hell is rugby? If you don’t know much about rugby going into the film, then you won’t know much more when you are coming out, except that it must be much tougher than football. That’s a sentiment repeated by the characters ad nauseum. Two, when did all contemporary directors decide that action scenes need to be in slow-mo or filmed in that documentary fashion that retards the viewers perception of whatever the hell is actually happening on the screen?  

Oh, and I should bring this up, too. You know the joke about how if a character is going to die in a movie, then it’s going to be the black guy? Well, the black guy dies in this movie. Not entirely surprising, but still disappointing because Michael J. Pagan’s character is a high point in the film.

But I digress…

If you’re looking for a completely innocuous time at the theater I suppose you could do a lot worse, but if you’re a more discerning viewer then you may want to test your patience elsewhere.

[rating:2.5/5]