Directed by: Alex Kendrick
Written by: Alex Kendrick, Stephen Kendrick
Produced by: Stephen Kendrick
Starring: Alex Kendrick, Ken Bevel, Kevin Downes, Ben Davies, Robert Amaya, Renee Jewell, Elanor Brown, Taylor Hutcherson, Angelita Nelson, Donald Howze, Tony 'T.C.' Stallings
Music by: Mark Willard
Release date: 2011

Notes:
Plot: When his truck is stolen at a gas station, Nathan Hayes chases it and manages to reclaim the truck but the criminal gets away. Though he is injured, he crawls back to his truck, and sees that his little baby boy in the back is okay. When the police arrive, sheriff's deputies Adam Mitchell and Shane Fuller meet Hayes, discovering he is a new deputy, having recently moved to Albany, Georgia. The personal lives of these officers are observed: Mitchell adores his nine-year-old daughter, Emily, but is distant from his fifteen-year-old son, Dylan, because he doesn't share his son's interest in 5k runs. Hayes never knew his biological father, instead treating a neighbor as his father (even giving him Father's Day cards annually), but would risk his life to save his three children; however, his teenage daughter Jade, resents him because he has a strict policy about dating, and won't let her go out with her love interest Derrick. Fuller is divorced, as were his parents, and has joint custody of his son. David Thomson is young and single.

Javier Martinez is an immigrant struggling to provide for his family after being laid off when a construction company went over budget. While job-hunting he walks down an alley asking God what He wants him to do. Mitchell, thinking he is a different Javier recommended to him by a friend, calls him over to help with backyard projects and construction. After paying him for the job, Mitchell recommends him to a new full-time job, where he is hired.

Review: This is a truly gutsy film about real life issues. It doesn't skirt around the truth and gets down to what is needed most in today's dysfunctional families and society. That is the role of the Father figure. For way too long men have been put down and trodden on. Most haven't a clue as to how to act or behave when it comes to family responsibilities. For some the easy way out is to just walk away from serious relationships.

In this movie we see not just one life story, but a woven thread of four very different men and how they each are facing life and responsibility. The characters are real and you can easily empathise with each of them. Woven to some degree the one who finds himself giving into the temptation to break the rules to try and survive. Much like comparing Peter to Judas in the New Testament. We see one who always returns to their faith while there is one who turns away and seeks to do things his way.

This is a wonderful movie for the whole family. Dads should especially enjoy the message and the encouragement they need to take firm hold of the sacred responsibility God has given them.

M J Flack