Overcomer
Overcomer. Dir. Alex Kendrick. Perf. Alex Kendrick, Priscilla Shirer, Aryn Wright-Thompson. Sony Pictures, 2019.
Since the release of their first film Flywheel the Kendrick Brothers have been an institution in the Christian film industry. Their second film, Facing the Giants received a theatrical release and earned more money than anyone could possibly imagine (it was created by a team of volunteers over summer break). The Kendrick Brothers have continued to make films with increasing production values, higher budgets and bigger names from Christian subculture but they are not without their controversy. It is safe to say that the Kendrick Brothers, (specifically Alex Kendrick who stars in three of the five movies) are not well respected by lovers of film. Their movies are seen as cheesy, escapist, awkward and cheap, and are often held up as an example of what is wrong with Christian art in North America.
“Overcomer” certainly has its moments of cheesiness: there is a rather awkward “salvation prayer” moment between High School student Hannah (portrayed by Aryn Wright-Thompson) and her principal Mrs. Brooks (portrayed by Priscilla Shirer) which felt forced into the film so it had an evangelical message. It also had the very unrealistic outcome of a Freshman with asthma beating a state champion cross-country runner in the last race of the season, even though she hadn’t gotten close to the podium before then - the type of escapism the Kendrick Brothers are often accused of. But there is also an incredible amount of sincerity in the intersecting journeys of the characters. High School student Hannah is dealing with honest struggles, Coach Harrison (portrayed by Alex Kendrick) loses his job with the basketball team and struggles with who he is as a person and a father. Their stories offer a sincere look at honest struggles and Overcomer offers hope and redemption.
In my opinion Overcomer shows the power of storytelling to teach a lesson, a lesson that is easy to miss by people who only see the “Bad Christian Art” label and revel in making their superior knowledge of filmmaking known to their friends at dinner parties. The simple reality is that those people are not the audience that Overcomer is trying to reach. Not all people care about the artistic merit of a creative project, some people want catharsis, escapism, or an enjoyable evening with their families. The Kendrick brothers want to appeal to that audience, and to teach them the power of an identity founded in Jesus Christ.
Not only is the cynic’s argument unimportant to the Kendrick Brothers, it is also based on an assumption about the nature of art - what they are saying when they proclaim that art with a message is just propaganda (and therefore bad art) is that they have a postmodern understanding of art: “art that exists for no other purpose than to be what it is: not agenda-driven, showing no overriding opinion, revealing no contemporary social relevance. The greatest art ever produced is art for its own sake.” (Stephen Tye Culbert) The Kendrick Brothers, however, might view art the way it was viewed by J.R.R. Tolkien “The operative link between Imagination and… sub-creation,” (he saw the creation of art as one of the ways we reflect the image of God).
In Overcomer the Kendrick brothers clearly and beautifully show that we can overcome our obstacles when we ground our identity in Jesus Christ and his redemptive work. Even with the awkward or escapist moments, I can still appreciate the heart of the creators, and the power of their storytelling.