Last Ounce of Courage

Inspirational films by and large are affirming, well-intentioned outlets to 'talk with an audience to eventually make them feel better', hence the word inspirational. I believe, in these trying and challenging years, we have seen a resurgence of this type of film-- "Facing the Giants" '06, "Fireproof" '08, "Soul Surfer" '11, "Courageous" '11, to mention a handful. Well, now we have "Last Ounce of Courage" to add to that list.

This heartwarming film tells the story of a local war hero, Bob Revere (Marshall Teague) who is the town's mayor, whose son goes off to war. His new wife, Kari (Nikki Novak) brings Christian, his first son, into the world while the young hero is away at war earning metals for valor. However, the tragedy that ensues on a cruel battlefield will change everyone's life forever as Tom Revere is laid to rest giving his ultimate sacrifice for freedom.
Fourteen years pass and the young baby grows to be a teenager, Christian Revere (Hunter Gomez) who, with his mom, Kari, comes back to the small town of Mount Columbus nestled in the Rocky Mountains during the holiday season to be with his family. Christian disconnects with his grandfather, Bob, as they both are going through the pain of losing a dad and the loss of a son by Bob. In this beautiful story of love and forgiveness, they discover a way to unite and to make a difference in their community with Bob's co-workers, with Greg Rogers (Rusty Joiner), a good friend of Tom's, and by claiming their freedom of expression which is so important for all.

Others to round out the cast are Jennifer O'Neill as Dottie Revere, wife of Bob, Fred Williamson as Warren Hammerschmidt, Jenna Boyd as Mattie Rogers, daughter of Greg, and Darrel Campbell as Renaldo Boutwell, the school's director of the holiday play.

This was well directed by virtual newcomers to feature films, Darrel Campbell and Kevin McAfee. For their little experience, the pacing and the emotion they were able to get out of their actors was amazing. It was written by Darrel Campbell ("Dojo Kids" (TV movie) '96, "Redemption of the Ghost" '02), and even though there were a couple of inconsistencies in script, it wasn't enough to distract from the true meaning of the story. This was based on a story by Richard & Gina Headrick and Campbell.

We all have belief systems in which we hinge on to, and I think these guys were trying to convey to us that whatever we believe, we must have the freedom to be able to voice these freedoms, lest we become enslaved in the process. We claim we're free, but when we quelsh each other for fear of not being PC, or fear of being belittled, or even of fear of being told we're breaking a law. This is not freedom, it's fear with a capital 'F'.

Out of 4 stars: 3.5                      Rated: PG                      101mins.