l_rawjalaurence Set in and around Arizona, FOREVER STRONG concentrates on the world of junior rugby union. Rick Penning (Sean Faris) plays for the Razorbacks, a competent side whose members spend their leisure hours drinking and enjoying themselves. Things take an unfortunate turn after a car accident where Rick was driving; he is sent to a juvenile detention center where he abruptly ostracized by his fellow-inmates.Rick is invited to play for Highland, the local rugby team. As in his first years in prison, he occupies the position of an outsider, believing himself to be superior in terms of ability to his teammates, and refusing to respect the words of coach Larry Gelwix (Gary Cole). Time passes; and Rick eventually undergoes a significant change of character, as he comes to understand the psychological advantages of playing for the team, not just for himself, and following Highland's mantra of never doing anything to embarrass himself, his team, or his family.The story is a familiar one, explored on a wider canvas by Clint Eastwood in INVICTUS (2009). Rugby union might be a violent sport, but it teaches players to respect themselves as well as others; to conduct themselves appropriately at all times, both on and off the field; and to understand the importance of listening to oneself as well as to others. The virtues of the game are summed up by the haka, commonly associated with the New Zealand All Blacks, but here practiced by the Highland team as a mark of tradition, a challenge and a recognition of the power of family past and present.The legendary All Black Syd Going makes a cameo appearance, but the film really belongs to Cole as coach Gelwix, who apparently does nothing except sit in a chair on the sidelines offering advice, but possesses a unique ability to judge individual characters. In the past Rick's rugby-playing father Richard (Neal McDonough) had issues with Gelwix, that he has never been able to deal with; but at the end of the film the two men are reconciled in a mutual understanding of rugby's socializing power.Competently filmed (by Ryan Little) with a fine sense of landscape, FOREVER STRONG is an uplifting piece, which only serves to increase confusion among rugby fans. If American high school rugby is so competitive and strong, why can't the country produce a stronger national team to compete at the World Cup?

Desiree As a part of one of my favorite genres, Forever Strong was truly powerful and absolutely captivating.The movie states that it is based on true events. I did some research and couldn't find anything about the characters. The information on the film stated that Forever Strong is actually based on events from several different lives and Rugby teams, not one particular story.All in all it was a fantastic film. I was shocked that by the end of the movie I actually liked Sean Faris' character, Rick Penning. He started out as an arrogant jock. I wasn't aware that Penn Badgley was in this. I was sad to see him as such a creep but this definitely showed us that he can play more than the lovable goofball he played on Gossip Girl.I thought it was interesting that Forever Strong is about rugby but we barely ever see the games. It truly was about the boys as coach Larry Gelwix said, "I want you to be forever strong on the field, so that you will be forever strong off the field". He worked hard at making their lives better and transforming boys into respectable men.I highly, highly recommend Forever Strong! It leaves you feeling inspired and hopeful about life, wanting to be a better person, and wanting to better the relationship with your family. It's a great family film.

dmezy First, let's call this movie what it is:1. It's a feel-good movie with a message.2. The acting is just okay, dialog slightly better, production value pretty good.3. Rugby scenes...just barely passable.But here's the trick: this isn't something Hollywood contrived, and it isn't trying to be a ferociously accurate portrayal of the sport. It is instead a pretty good representation of mostly real people, in real circumstances, and a real storyline. Sure, they could have done a better job actually rep'ing the sport, but my vote: it does a pretty good job at what it sets out to do.(And fwiw, I can't think of many football, baseball, hockey or soccer movies that are true to the sport either. C'mon...Bull Durham?)I'm not a rugby player (I was a wrestler) but I graduated from Highland, attended '86-'90, and occasionally trained with the Rugby guys. My brother-in-law David, however, was one of the original founding members of the Highland Rugby Club in 1976. (His younger brother, Billy, played the next year, as I recall. If you're interested, there's a Highland Rugby site at highlandrugby.net that addresses the history of the team.) By the time I was there the club had been in existence for about a decade, and had long since built a reputation for excellence. It's a fact that they focused on "broad" training topics: devotion, honor, discipline, effort, not tactics. I thought the rugby guys I knew were a little 'off' in the head, but I think I might have just been a little jealous. They were hard-core dedicated to the belief system that Gelwix promoted.With regard to the "cultural mixing" issues that have been brought up, it might be interesting to note that while I was there in the 80's, one of the larger schools in the city was shut down - South High School - and its students distributed among the other 3 primary SLC schools. To be honest, Highland pre-80's was pretty whitebread...I've got a picture of the team from (I think) 1977 that shows an *all* white club. South High, on the other hand, was a much more racially integrated school before it closed: I had a pair of friends from South who joined the team, one Tongan, one Samoan, and as I recall there were a bunch of Island-nation players that joined up '88-'90. I don't think anyone questioned the credibility of the team in adopting Maori (or other cultural) traditions: if there was one thing that was obvious about these guys, it's that they walked the walk. And as to the strength of the team when compared to the best highschool-age teams in the world: yeah, it's true that US-Rugby, on average when taken as a whole, does not represent particularly well against the best elsewhere. There are exceptions, but hey - it's a simple fact that Rugby doesn't have the prominence or exposure needed to develop the multiple traditions of excellence in the US that arise in other countries.With that said, judge Highland on its merits: the *only* team to qualify for the USA Rugby National Championships every year of that organizations' 25-yr history.a win record of 392 wins, 9 losses. Read that again...winningest coach in any US sport in history.regular international tours. some compelling wins against some legitimate international teams.Are they the world best? Maybe some years, probably not most...but they're pretty good on a consistent basis. And it's disrespectful to the game to blow them off, when Highland Rugby may be the best ambassador to the sport in the US.

Rob Black Now before people start having a breakdown about this movie (those who play rugby anyway) this is a film! It's been given the Hollywood treatment to entertain people and therefore those who play rugby (myself included) are naturally gonna pick holes in the choreography of the game in the film. Althogether it is a decent film and bring to the attention the morals and ideas behind the game of rugby.The film is based on a real team, a real coach and his work helping guide kids in the right direction to be better people in the future, and also is based on real people who have played for the highland team. Its just a typical sports movie with a character who is misguided and eventually finds his way on the right track again through the rugby medium in this case. Is generally a feel good movie that is enjoyable but has flaws in terms of it's portrayal of the game. however, like i said it is a film under the Hollywood treatment.