Forever Strong (2008)

Sean Faris (not related to Anna Faris) is Rick Penning, spoiled and popular athlete in high school. One night, drinking, he loses control of his car, wrecks, and his girlfriend is badly injured and her face scarred. He ends up in a juvenile facility in Utah.A key staff member at the facility is Sean Astin as Marcus Tate who mentors Rick and works it out to allow him to join a local rugby team. Back home he is accustomed to being the star and big scorer, but here the coach puts him in a different position. Throughout the story it is clear that Rick badly needs an attitude adjustment.Gary Cole is Coach Larry Gelwix, who has built the best and most successful high school rugby teams, and contends yearly for the national high school rugby championships. Neal McDonough is Rick's dad and also a coach, Coach Richard Penning, for a rival high school team that Rick was playing for before his run-in with the law. Dad was hoping that son would act as a "spy" of sorts, find out what the rival teams was doing so they could beat them.But coach Gelwix built up his team mainly by instilling rules for life, honesty, family, teamwork. The team is always bigger than any individual. Only after Rick finally accepted that was he able to get on with his life, and also make amends with his parents.Good movie.

Having recently watched Clint Eastwood's 2009 US release of 'Invictus' (Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon et al) about how newly-installed President Nelson Mandella used the game of rugby at it's World Championship level to unite a badly torn South Africa in the 1990s, I was also inspired by this little-known independent film by Ryan Little on a smaller scale. I was glad to see the results were drawn-on and created-from real-life events (BTW, it is NOT a 'Hollywood production' as so many of you have incorrectly stated). It's a small budget film with credible actors who had the courage and took the time to portray this compilation of real events. If you didn't care for the 'accuracy' on the rugby field, the pregame Maori chants or actor flaws you're too narrowly focused and missed the whole point of the film. Shame on you. IMHO, it displayed exactly what it was intended to do - a depiction of the rehabilitation of wayward young men through the supreme efforts required in an extremely rugged sport ('...soccer's for kids, football's for wuss's, rugby's for men' - remember the line?). I was impressed with the efforts of all concerned to show it's possible to make directional - and good - changes in one's life through hard effort, intra-personal inspection, team unity and a willingness to listen to gentle and persistent instruction from those wiser than you. I genuinely enjoyed the film. And this one, and 'Invictus', have given me a totally new appreciation for the sport of rugby; I'm learning more as I study it and am looking forward to watching my first 'live' game. I'm thinking I could become a real fan...beats the heck out of lame US football.

Awful film. Terrible acting, cheesy, totally unrealistic, embarrassing to anyone who has played the game. For a start that guy is not a hooker, he would be snapped in two. As for ''I score, that's my job'' well no it's not. For the the uneducated American audience it might come across as a good film. For me, well, that's a few hours of my life I'll never get back. I read through the reviews and came across one where the guy sounded like he knew what he was talking about. Then I read - ''And while American rugby may never reach the level of talent that New Zealand or South Africa has, third in the world is also nothing to hang your head about''All I can say is, LMFAO! Keep playing your American football and baseball, leave the real sports to the big boys.

This movie has made me a rugby -- and Coach Larry Gelwix -- fan. The story's characters slipped and fell before they begin to grow as they struggled through incredibly strong conflicts. Those were understandable and completely believable. Like life, there were no easy answers for the problems facing them all. Superb actors and an excellent script brought this true story to life. I wish there were more movies like this one. These days, I watch almost exclusively, worthwhile true stories because they are typically far more interesting than fiction. Additionally, this one is inspirational and it teaches us to not to give up on anyone too quickly.