THE HAIL MARY
A drunk handyman, a determined nun, and a football team that needs both.
Should You Watch It?
Here's the short version: this is a Catholic comedy that earns its warmth. A no-nonsense nun and a washed-up, alcoholic handyman shouldn't work as a screen pairing, but Daniel Roebuck and Marsha Dietlein Bennett have real chemistry, and the writing gives them plenty of good banter to work with. Underneath the jokes sits a sincere story about a man wrestling with grief and unbelief, and a school full of underdogs who need him more than he knows.
It isn't flawless. The characters could use more development before the movie asks you to care about them, and a few of the child performances don't quite land. But the payoff is real — the ending goes somewhere you won't expect, and it lands with more feeling than the setup promises.
If you can handle some drunkenness, a bit of rough language, and one hard moment of violence during a football scene, this is a family movie with real spiritual substance to talk about afterward. Take the family — just know what's coming.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESSister Kathleen needs a football coach for her underdog Catholic school team. Jake Bauer needs a job — and, though he won't admit it, something to believe in. She hires him as the school janitor and talks him into training her students to play football. Jake shows up for the paycheck. What he's still running from is something else entirely — and that's where this one leaves the door open.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means this one earns real affection, even with visible seams. Daniel Roebuck, who also wrote and directed, gives Jake Bauer the weight of a man carrying regret he can't name yet, and Marsha Dietlein Bennett plays Sister Kathleen with wit and warmth that never tips into cliché. Their scenes together crackle — the film's best moments are simply the two of them talking.
The film is less sure-footed elsewhere. Character development is thin enough that you have to lean in to fully care, and some of the young actors are still finding their footing. But the ending pulls off something the setup doesn't telegraph, and it's earned enough to leave a mark. This is a good film built on two strong performances, not a great one built on a strong script throughout.
The Worldview
This is a film with a clear and confident Christian center, and it's worth naming plainly: this movie believes in God, believes prayer does something, and believes forgiveness can change a life — and it says so without apology. Nuns and Franciscan friars run the school not as background color but as the moral engine of the story. Characters quote Jesus, pray the Hail Mary, talk about feeling God's presence in a chapel, and insist that "winning souls is more important than winning" the game. Christmas is celebrated with a Nativity scene, not just tinsel. The movie's practical theology — helping the lonely through prayer, gratitude, compassion, forgiveness, and honesty — is about as close to the Sermon on the Mount as a football comedy gets.
The rough edges are minor compared to that foundation: some looseness around discipline, a few lies that go uncorrected in the moment, and a strand of casual disregard for a religious habit that some viewers may notice. None of it undercuts the film's overall direction, which points toward grace rather than away from it.
At its heart, this is a story about a broken man being handed a second chance he didn't ask for and doesn't think he deserves — which is, not coincidentally, the gospel's oldest story. "Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive" (Colossians 3:13).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Very strong Christian, moral worldview with many positive references to God and Jesus and prayer, plus nuns run a school with the help of two Franciscan friars, a person references good coming out of a bad situation, character remarks that miracles happen and that winning souls is more important that winning itself, character quotes Jesus, a person refers to another person an answer to prayer, people talk about feeling the presence of God inside a chapel, the St. Francis prayer comes out of a music box and characters sing it, people celebrate Christmas and one person places the Baby Jesus in the Nativity manger, nun holds a rosary and prays the Hail Mary, many statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary are in a garden, people promote and practice helping others who suffer from loneliness with prayer, gratitude, compassion, forgiveness, and honesty, plus there are overt America, patriotic elements with a flag depicted and a band playing the National Anthem
Foul Language
One “h” obscenity but the character corrects themselves and says, “heck,” and a character curses but it’s hard to make out exactly what the person’s saying, plus hear a person says, “Stick it where the sun don’t shine,” two instances of jerk, one instance shut up, one stupid, and someone almost takes the name of Jesus in vain
Violence
Schoolboys fight, and one character gets bloody lips from it, and plenty of football tackles occur with one of them resulting in a death
Sex
No sex but a man calls a woman “Wow” and hot, and someone jokes about a “tight end”
Nudity
Some partial upper male nudity
Alcohol Use
Characters drink beer and get drunk, and one person drinks wine from a glass
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
No smoking or drugs
Miscellaneous Immorality
The religious order has a loose attitude toward wearing a nun’s habit or not, a character lies three times about not knowing anything about football, an amusement park ride is called “Possessed,” boys misbehave but are rebuked, an underage boy sneaks in a bar, but an adult rebukes him, and one boy admits to stealing a car.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Sister Kathleen keeps pursuing Jake even after he shows he's a mess. What does it look like to pursue someone who doesn't think they deserve it?
Luke 15:20 · Romans 5:8Jake is running from grief and unbelief at the same time. Why do those two often travel together, and what does the movie suggest can loosen their grip?
Psalm 34:18 · 2 Corinthians 1:3–4The film says "winning souls is more important than winning" the game. Do you agree? What would it look like to actually live that out on a team, at school, or at work?
Matthew 16:26 · 1 Corinthians 9:24–25An underage boy sneaks into a bar and an adult rebukes him — but not every wrong choice in the film gets corrected onscreen. How do you talk with your kids about the difference between what a movie shows and what it endorses?
Proverbs 22:6 · Philippians 4:8The Final Word
This one surprised us — a Catholic comedy with real chemistry, a sincere heart, and an ending that earns its emotion instead of grabbing for it. It has rough patches, both in craft and in content, but nothing that should keep an older-kid-and-up family away. Same verdict we opened with: worth the trip — ages 10 and up.
