Facing the Giants

My wife and I sat down after renting the video 'Facing The Giants' with no inkling of just how good this show would be. The Book is wonderful too! We started to watch it and quickly realized that these are excellent characters, and with a good story line. Some may think this Book/Film to be a little syrupy--but I say 'NO WAY!' This movie/book will melt the 'hardest of hearts' If you can read the entire Book or watch the film without shedding a tear, then you would have to be emotionally bankrupt. When the little field-goal kicker came onto the field to kick the field goal, his crippled father stood to his feet with his hands raised in the air. He was doing two things: Giving Glory to God and secondly inspiring his son showing him: 'you can do it!' Many of the characters in the story exemplify how America really should be. Great stuff! Reverend Kenneth Griffiths Author of ''Oh God Change This Scene!

Herein lies the rest of the story. These days every successful movie is either preceded by or followed by a companion novel, but many novelizations fail to stand on their own. Poor or lazy writing, failure to understand the onscreen characters, failure to add something new to the original--these errors and others weaken the majority of movies-turned-books. FACING THE GIANTS suffers none of these troubles and stands to widen the movie's already sizeable audience. Wilson's novelization of Stephen & Alex Kendrick's screenplay is as enjoyable, moving, and inspirational as the original film, and it provides an excellent way for fans to re-experience FACING THE GIANTS for the first time and for first-timers to finally jump on the bandwagon. What's more, the book version not only expands a few scenes and adds a few others, but allows the reader to see inside the heads of several key characters--something even the best actors can't perfectly convey. Just as Dan Reeves said about the movie (see front cover), this story is one that every Christian, athlete or otherwise, should experience in one media form or another. It is all about the motive. It is all about the heart.

I loved The movie and didn't think the story could get any better. Eric Wilson brings the story to Novel format and improves on the story. He adds such great back stories to help you grow even closer to them and realize even more what they are going through in the lives and in their struggles. If you have seen the movie you know the basic plot but their is so much added to it that it makes this novel a must read for anyone. This is so much more than a football story it is a story of life and the power of God.

Eric Wilson continues to write engaging novels and this is no exception. Even if you've seen the movie, this book is well worth your time. It has all the emotion and spirituality of the movie but with added backstory, more fully fleshed out characters and additional subplots and characters. Although a different style than his previous work, Wilson is still in top form. I highly recommend it whether you're a fan of the movie or not. You'll laugh, you'll cry and you may even be convicted and inspired to live what you say you believe.

If you've watch the movie, there aren't a lot of plot surprises in the book. However, Wilson did add quite a bit of depth to the characters and developed some plots that really flesh out the story. While movies can give a good visual of actions, books can provide the motivation behind the actions. Given the small budget of this movie, many scenes that could have been added to enhance the story that I feel sure were not affordable. Well, those are in the book. Here are a few things of interested that were added, but by no means a complete list: more background on David and Larry, behind the scenes with Coach Duke, a greater understanding of Mr. Bridges and his dedication, background on Grant and Brooke, and a greater understanding of the interaction between the players and their motivations. Oh, and a little Georgia football history (loved that little part). Wilson did a great job of more clearly presenting some of the points of the movie. Again, I would guess budget constraints kinda kept these from coming out in the movie, but there really are some great Biblical truths presented. It's also easier to let those sink in when you're reading rather than watching it go by on the screen. Personally, I liked the book better because things were more broadly portrayed and characters more fully developed. If you liked the movie, you'll want to read the book as well.