Undefeated

Harvey Weinstein has done it again. He's proven that he can bet on the right, low budget horse that will tell an incredible story and reach people in ways they didn't even know was possible. I couldn't care less about high school football, but somehow, this movie has affected me to the core, and I know it will affect you as well.

I know what you're thinking. You think you've seen this film before and you're tired of the same shtick. You're actually annoyed that another film about white savers who come in and rescue under privileged kids actually has a place in the release line up.

I'm happy to inform you that you will be pleasantly surprised. This is not a film about about a group of kids who rise from nothing to have an undefeated season thanks to their white coaches after being left out of a system that doesn't care about them and then suddenly turn the system around on its head. This is not a film about how football builds character and makes men stronger than those who don't play sports.

No. This is a film about ordinary people who are living ordinary lives with extraordinary courage. Everything about this film is honest. Not only does Coach Bill Courtney teach his kids about discipline, he teaches them about rising above their circumstances and not letting them define their lives. In one season the pay off of building the program for the past six years starts to finally show results and not just in wins. There are real changes in kids who want to do better, who want to not just escape their circumstances but rise above them and change. Coach Bill Courtney is the mentor that every kid could be so lucky to have. He is the uncommon man that we could all learn from.

This is not a film about victims who are being saved. This is film about a group of incredible kids who have been handed a piece of American life that isn't as colorful or as fortunate. Not all of them will make it out, but all of them have been affected and learned from a man whose circumstances led him to Manassas High School in Tennessee to play surrogate father to so many kids who don't even know what their biological fathers look like. But the film is not about Coach Courtney's valor, its about those kids, "Money", "Chavis", and "O.C. Brown"who have so much heart, so much courage and finally something to be proud of.

If you watch one film this weekend, make it Undefeated. You will laugh, you'll cry and re-evaluate your own blessings.  DO your self a favor and get inspired. Watch the trailer below:

Undefeated Trailer