john-36232 Every possible cliche in the mantra is used in this saccharine sweet "god holy jesus' bucket of wasted production dollars - it angers me because the film does not come with a warning - "religious propaganda" - I approached it without knowing and the intro was quite well done - they even paid Jon Voight for a cameo. Five minutes in and we are 'amazed by the power of the word of God' - I left the gym without being drafted to the team.

joachimpehrson I must say that it is a plot that was used in a "good" way, but the choice of music destroyed the whole movie, for me. A movie with a great message that could have been done better... way better.

ScarletView This film is a conundrum. On one hand it's a nice story, well made and great looking. I hate the sport of American Football but I do enjoy a few films on the subject, the game sequences are well constructed, the athletes convincing and the performances solid.On the other hand however, what could have been a life-affirming story of triumph in the face of adversity, crossing the racial divide and uniting a community, is bogged down in a mire of heavy handed religious indoctrination. It oozes out of every scene, indeed, before the final credits roll, we are given the dates of upcoming tour appearances by mega rich and exploitative corporate pastors, people who prey on the vulnerable and helpless.I'm in no doubt religion is a part of the Woodlawn story but as the film develops, it becomes little more than a cult-like recruiting tool. The redemption, success and unity could of course only be attributed to God, there can be no other reason, those who initially do not accept God very quickly realise that, of course they were wrong and dive headlong into the arms of the church and all is good in the world.Christianity is envisioned as a beleaguered victim of oppression, something which is being buried by evil, we have the town bad guy who baulks at the idea of public prayer only to see that even he cannot oppress the light of Jesus in the town. I've been to Alabama and to claim with a straight face that God is frowned upon there is pure insanity, they're nuts about it, it's everywhere.Caleb Castille as Tony Nathan is excellent and like I said, it's a well put together film that I enjoyed, however, in order for me to commit fully to the film I had to consciously try to ignore the Jesus being rammed down my throat.Had the filmmakers included religion as merely an ingredient in the story instead of the driving force (as almost all American High School sports films insist on doing) then this would be a far more effective film.In claiming that everything good that happens is explainable only as an act of god, belittles the achievement of an outstanding athlete and man who worked incredibly hard to overcome adversity and makes the ensuing unity of the town far less effective, taking away all the basic goodness of humanity and replacing it with "proof" of god.Cut out all the Jesus and this would be a solid 7/10, maybe an 8

harbhippo The wife and I watched "Woodlawn" last night. We were surprised that we liked it so much. It's a combination of a sports movie, an anti-racism movie, and a pro-Jesus movie. In most cases, I don't much care for any of the three, because I don't like preachy movies and I don't care about sports itself. But this one really worked for me. It's based on true events. I found myself cheering out loud over a lousy touchdown (I never do that)! I found myself caring about the characters. It doesn't go over-the-top on the anti-racism message - so many movies have one or two token white guys who are decent, while the rest are vicious devils, just to make sure we don't miss the point, because after all we're too stupid to get it otherwise. The pro-Jesus message is there because it is necessary to the plot and the furthering thereof, so you don't feel like your church took you to see it in a van just to keep it from tanking at the box office. And the sports element is - well, OK, any football scenes in any movie are basically 'will he get the ball to the end zone or not?' because that's what sports is. It's a darned inspiring movie is what it is.