Courageous

In 2008, director Alex Kendrick brought Fireproof to theaters. Made very cheaply, the religious melodrama did quite well, crossing over from religious audiences into some mainstream attention. So for Courageous, Kendrick moved his business model from a firehouse to a police precinct. The title does not refer to the lives of the cops walking the beat, but rather the courage it takes to be a father to their families and to be sons of God. While Fireproof was overtly Christian, Courageous goes beyond that and fumbles the ball by making its story subservient to what’s written between the lines. The details of making this a convincing story are overlooked, so there’s nothing to draw in an audience that’s not looking for the preachy message. Those looking for the preachy message, though, should not need to look hard—or past anything remotely rewarding—to find it.