FOR THE GLORY

FOR THE GLORY is an inspiring, uplifting sports tale that encourages its audience to their live their lives to glorify God. However, the message is muddled by very poor acting and a mediocre production.

Kurt Kuykendall has dreamed of being an Olympic basketball player ever since he was a little boy. The death of his older, mentally challenged brother when Kurt was still young left him with an alcoholic mother, a workaholic father, and sports as the only escape. When a lack of raw talent gets him cut from his college basketball team, Kurt believes his life is over.

Through the persistence of his friends, Kurt decides to try soccer for a change. His growing interest in the beautiful and pure Sherry Williams also leads him to try church. Kurt cries out to God for a change in the direction of his life, and he soon finds that he has surprising talent as a goalkeeper. Through his newfound sport, love interest and faith, Kurt is able to find peace in a chaotic family and direction for his lost life.

FOR THE GLORY is based on a true story with an inspiring message. At its heart, it reveals the importance of glorifying God with one’s life. It has some very positive elements including Sherry’s faithfulness to God and to Kurt. Some of its questionable elements are found in Kurt’s family. Kurt’s mother is an alcoholic, so she is almost always depicted as drunk and angry. She and Kurt’s father are constantly fighting and blaming each other as well as Kurt for their problems. They warn Kurt with his relationship with Sherry to be careful not to end up in an unhappy marriage like them. Kurt’s father is an excellent example of terrible parenting. He discourages Kurt at every turn in the story and always expects more from him.

The movie itself is mediocre. It has quite a few sports montages, and all of them are just a little too long. It also has poor dialogue. The movie’s greatest fault, however, is the poor acting.

The hero’s life and dramatic change are motivational, but FOR THE GLORY’s low quality might distract viewers from coming away with a heartfelt lesson in Christian faith.