Woodlawn

From Amazon:

In 1973, a spiritual awakening captured the heart of nearly every player on the Woodlawn High School football team. Their dedication to love and unity, in a newly desegregated school filled with racism and hate, leads to the largest high school football game ever played in the torn city of Birmingham, Alabama, and the rise of superstar, Tony Nathan.

My thoughts:

Last year our family had the opportunity to attend a pre-screening, red carpet event for the movie Woodlawn.  The venue for this film was 30 minutes from our house, and while we only knew bits and pieces about the movie, we were looking forward to attending.  An added bonus was that it was rumored there would be several of the actors in attendance for a Q & A afterwards!

Because we were not familiar with the story-line, we debated on taking our three children with us (11, 11, 14 years).  We had received our tickets from our church, and were assured it was a film our family would enjoy (the pastor we spoke with knew our children).  When we arrived at the Morris, there were a few people standing around outside the doors.  Because the seats were not reserved, we had wanted to get there early so we could get decent seats.  The venue where the movie was shown seats 1,302 people; sitting in one of the top balcony's was not an option for our family (we ended up getting main floor seats, toward the front - yay us!).

The movie was phenomenal!  Our three children were captivated, often sitting on the edge of their seat, deeply involved in the story.  While there were a few minor intense scenes, they were handled very well, in a way that was not too intense for children over the age of 10 (in my opinion).  There's a website I use both professionally and personally to check out the content of a movie, and I would highly recommend it to any parent. Common Sense Media is a great tool; there's a section entitled "What Parents Need to Know", this is where they spell it out for you...they try to list all the language, violence, sex, etc. that you will see in the movie, and they also give age recommendations for viewing the movie.  I can not say enough good things about this website...I absolutely love it!  Make sure you stop by and bookmark the page.

Back to the movie...There were a few bigger named actors that were in the film:

• Sean Astin ( Mom's Night Out, Goonies, Lord of the Rings, 24, Do You Believe)
• Jon Voight (24, Mission Impossible, Pearl Harbor)
• Kevin Downes (Mom's Night Out, Redeemed, Courageous)

One up and coming, fantastic newcomer in the movie was Caleb Castille (his story on how he got the part is a must read). The actors all did a great job portraying the many different characters throughout the movie, adding their own little tweaks to these real-life people.  Sean Astin, Kevin Downes, & Caleb Castille were all at the Q & A after the movie, it was interesting to hear what they had to say.

Everyone that attended this premier received a green rubber bracelet with the word "Woodlawn" on it...one of our daughters is still wearing her bracelet today!

We recently re-watched the movie, and realized, yet again, what a powerful story it tells, and the awesomeness that it was even put in to theaters in today's world.  Oftentimes faith-based movies have a limited run in theaters, or they go straight to the DVD market.  Viewing these types of movies when they come out at the cinema is vital to the future success of faith-based movies. Letting the entertainment industry know that we desire more clean, family friendly movies is key in getting them produced in the future.

If you (and your family) have not yet seen "Woodlawn", I greatly recommend viewing it at your earliest convenience.  And don't just watch it and forget about it...tell others and help spread the word!