X
- 2019
- PG
- Sony Pictures Releasing
- 1 h 59 m
- 2019
- PG
- Sony Pictures Releasing
- 1 h 59 m
Summary Life changes overnight for basketball coach John Harrison and the high school where he and his wife teach when they learn the largest manufacturing plant in town is shutting down. Uncertainty swirls as hundreds of families depart, leaving John fearful for the future of his family and his team. Forced to coach a sport he doesn’t even like...
Directed By: Alex Kendrick
Written By: Stephen Kendrick, Alex Kendrick
- 2019
- PG
- Sony Pictures Releasing
- 1 h 59 m
- 2019
- PG
- Sony Pictures Releasing
- 1 h 59 m
Overcomer
17
7.1
Where to Watch
Summary Life changes overnight for basketball coach John Harrison and the high school where he and his wife teach when they learn the largest manufacturing plant in town is shutting down. Uncertainty swirls as hundreds of families depart, leaving John fearful for the future of his family and his team. Forced to coach a sport he doesn’t even like...
Directed By: Alex Kendrick
Written By: Stephen Kendrick, Alex Kendrick
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Overwhelming Dislike
Based on 5 Critic Reviews
17
0% Positive
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
20% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
80% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Metascore
Overwhelming Dislike
Based on 5 Critic Reviews
17
0% Positive
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
20% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
80% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Kendrick’s film eventually finds its legs in the final stretch, with an emotionally effective conclusion that might persuade even the cynics to its cause. Whether it converts them to running or to Christ will depend on the viewer.
There’s just nothing here. Even as comfort food for true believers, Overcomer cannot overcome its myriad shortcomings.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 49 User Ratings
7.1
67% Positive
33 Ratings
33 Ratings
10% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
22% Negative
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 49 User Ratings
7.1
67% Positive
33 Ratings
33 Ratings
10% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
22% Negative
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
Well, well! I cannot believe the negative comments generated in this forum that I have read about this movie. Unbelievable! Some folks need to calm down a tad from their negativity about a Christian movie in general and this one specifically. It was t cheesy. It wasn’t predictable. It wasn’t the Kendrick brothers’ less than excellent work. It was what it was to be. Compelling from start to finish. I could go on and on about it’s excellence. However, those that know it need not be told. Those will
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Overcomer really explores the subject of being more than winner in all aspects of life by the Word of God and Faith in Him. It's one of that movies which lead us to wonder about our lives and fill us with hope and trust in God. It's about faith? Yes. Kendrick will always make movies serving as a messenger of God, despite of the "critic" (almost everytime coward toward christian movies) and to fullfill his mission. People are everytime blessed by the message of Christ delivered in his movies. Overcomer sure is one of the bests of all times! Rate 10!
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There's about half a movie in Overcomer. The other half or so is a pretty half-hearted sermon. Neither half is particularly worthwhile, and the whole is cheap, cheesy, and, to put it charitably, churchy.
Laced with white-savior undertones this vaguely “The Blind Side”-esque sports drama doesn’t bother investigating (if it recognizes them at all), Overcomer offers nothing in the way of nuance — even its title is awkward — and, also, no respite from its religious propagandizing.
What’s never visible, through the monologues and hackneyed one-on-one chats, is a desire to use lighting beyond flat luminosity. Visual delivery matches the insipidness of the material.
authentic and honest story, demonstrating credible forgiveness and diversity, which makes this film a hopeful contribution to society and culture
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With the exception of maybe Courageous, the films from the Kendrick brothers have been just as amateurish and pandering as the rest of the faith-based offerings. Receiving the same kind of repeated criticism for middling production values, stale dramatic beats, and the messages themselves. However, I've always felt that the duo have really pushed themselves with each successive release to try new things and make higher quality entertainment, which something the kind of thing these movies really need right now. I can't say the same about Overcomer though, as it feels like their first really phoned in effort to date.
While it's obvious no one onscreen is really trying with their performances, the real problem with the movie is the script. There are some effectively emotional moments, but no real depth. That's because the Kendrick's never went the extra mile to flesh out any of the characters. Not even the titular "overcomer" herself played by Aryn Wright-Thompson, who is oddly sidelined for the first half of the movie and never actually explored even when her problems do finally take center stage despite this supposedly being her story. Instead they just pulled a bunch of the oldest tricks from the book on how to get the audience all sappy without having to put forth any real effort. It works, but is totally cheap and kind of insulting when you consider how intentionally lazy it feels.
If I had to bet, I would say the Kendrick's decided to not give 100% to this one because they realized the hardcore evangelicals that have been keeping this genre afloat for years now without even a hint of constructive criticism were going to support it no matter what. Which highlights one of the biggest problems with Christian filmmaking. Why are the people behind these movies ever going to try and fix the flaws that now serve as an expected part of these experiences when they're going to be met with blind devotion no matter what? Call me crazy, but I think God deserves better from our onscreen attempts at worship so it's high time we the audience demanded improvement.
Even Overcomer's religious element itself is a step from their earlier works. Where films like Courageous and War Room offered real world applications of faith to help with things in everyday life like marriage and parenting, this is a straight up Sunday school lesson on salvation. Don't really see how that's going to help those watching this as they are either already converted, or are going to be too angry with the mediocrity the Kendrick's served up here to pay attention to it.
There is one thing they got right though, and that's the running. Cross country is the kind of sport that's hard to carry a movie on, and you can see that here. However, when the final race arrives it's just as big and powerful as any football or basketball match you'd see at the end of some other sports flick. As a runner myself, I can tell you that they did a wonderful job at capturing the mentality and strategy needed to compete for long distances like that. Something that alone made this a movie I genuinely enjoyed, despite what a disingenuous cash grab it is overall.
5.5/10
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There was nothing else out at my theater that I hadn't already seen.
Let's talk about faith-based movies (Any kind of faith -- doesn't matter which). Do they have a right to exist? Absolutely. And as an avowed aesthetic relativist, I believe they're allowed to exist in whatever manner they'd like to. However, by that same token, that doesn't mean I have to like any of them. For me, the best movies that have anything to do with faith, end up either discussing it at a rather oblique angle or without a ton of specificity/esotericism (ala "The Book Of Eli" and "The Green Mile," respectively). This is not that kind of movie.
I'll say this -- there's at least a lot of passion behind "Overcomer." However, none of it is intended for me or anyone like me. And it's honestly not as if I'm in any sort of cinematic minority here. It's a film crafted for a select, presumably small cluster of people; a class that I'm just not a part of. And that's fine. As long as it's fine that I say, in turn, that I feel this simply doesn't work. It's unfocused, overly earnest, sparsely well-acted, and almost chillingly out of touch. Again, if you enjoy on-the-nose entertainment like this, that's fine. I just don't. Simple as that.
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Production Company
Affirm Films,
Provident Films
Release Date Aug 23, 2019
Duration 1 h 59 m
Rating PG
Tagline From the creators of WAR ROOM
Website
https://kendrickbrothers.com/
Awards
MovieGuide Awards
• 2 Wins & 4 Nominations
GMA Dove Awards
• 1 Nomination
