First let me start off by apologizing to all (2) of my rabid readers for not posting in a few days. My Monster got sick with a stomach bug and just as she was getting over it, my Monkey got it too.
So I went and saw Courageous tonight. My father saw it last week and he really wanted to take Mr. Gem and I to see it as well. Let me start out by saying that both of us do NOT like watching movies like this. My husband puts it much better than I do when he states that he doesn't like to be emotionally manipulated. I should also state that my father is a police officer which meant that this film had an extra resonance with me. I am not going to write a full review here but I will hit on some particular points in the film which highlight why I don't watch films like this.
****WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD****
The movie starts out with a man pulling into a gas station and pumping gas. He steps away from his truck for just a moment to grab something to clean his windshield and someone runs up, jumps in his truck and takes off. He chases after them on foot, grabs onto the side of the truck and as the car jacker is driving, he is holding onto the window and trying to push and shove the thief out of the way. The truck swerves, he falls, the truck hits a tree, the thief runs off and as witnesses are calling 911, he is trying to crawl to his truck. The witnesses are telling him not to worry about the vehicle and he says he isn't at which point he reaches the back door, opens it and we see his infant son in a car seat in the back.
*Wow, a sucker punch to the gut and we aren't even 5 minutes into the film yet.*
We are then introduced to the other main characters and get a little bit of back story on them and then, WHAM! The 9 year old daughter of the main character Adam is killed in a car wreck with a drunk driver. *Yeah, my gut was just starting to feel better, thanks for that swift kick!*
Six weeks later, dad Adam is wrestling with anger, guilt and all the other emotions one would expect from someone who tragically loses a child and he decides he needs to make a resolution to be a better father to his surviving son. Things seem to be going well then one night over dinner, son starts crying and says he wishes he had been a better brother.
*If they keep this up, I'm going to have a permanent bruise on my stomach here!*
Promptly after this, Adam goes to a parking lot he had previously been at with deceased daughter. When there the first time, she asked him to dance with her and he said no and instead he watched her dance. Now he gets out, puts in CD of the same song and dances by himself while we see flashbacks of her then asks God to tell her that he did his part of the dance.
*Seriously?!?!?! Why don't I just put my heart on a platter and give it to you, you are certainly yanking the strings hard enough!*
One of the last scenes in the film is 2 of the other main characters pulling over a vehicle. Drug dealers are in the vehicle along with 2 kilos in the trunk. The driver decides he isn't going back to jail and he tries to shoot the cop.
*Thanks, that isn't emotional for me or anything considering it has been a recurring nightmare since I was a small child*
Thankfully, the teenager in the backseat recognizes the officer as the dad of a girl he wants to date, decides they can't kill them, grabs the gun and prevents the officer from getting hit when it goes off. A big shoot out ensues, the bad guys run out of bullets, notice a young girl down the street watching them, decide to take her hostage and run after her. Two officers give chase, including Adam, the one who lost his daughter earlier, and after a climatic fight scene, they manage to wrestle the 2 bad guys to the ground but not before Adam gets the crap beat out of him. As he is laying there, he asks about the girl and they tell him she is safe and with her father.
**Wow, so in one film they have managed to address the fear of my baby getting kidnapped during a carjacking, my daughter being killed by a drunk driver, my father being murdered while trying to protect and serve, a sibling AND a parent dealing with survivor guilt and my child being taken hostage, Woohoo! What a fun night at the movies!!!**
In all seriousness, the film does have a powerful message and it does a good job of conveying it but it just isn't for me. I spent most of the film sitting in my chair clenching my muscles. I kept trying to relax but then another tragedy would happen which would cause me to tense up again. By the time we left the theater, I had a stress headache from all the emotional torment. I understand why my father wanted to take us to see this film and I am really touched because my dad has never invited us to a movie. He isn't the best at verbalizing what he is thinking and feeling and this was his way of conveying what he wanted to and, knowing that, I am deeply moved. However, next time I will have to simply politely decline unless it is a comedy, sci-fi or romance.
As the Ancient Greeks said, Know Thyself.
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