American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story

Thank you Lionsgate for sending us this Blu-ray to review!

American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story is based on a true and remarkable story. Kurt Warner is considered the NFL’s greatest undrafted player. Kurt was inspired by Joe Montana’s Superbowl XIX performance and actually broke his record in Super Bowl XXIV. However, it took him a long time to get into the NFL.

During college, Kurt spent four years on the bench because the coach there didn’t like his playing style. I’m not savvy on football terms, but apparently Kurt didn’t stay in the pocket enough. When he did play, he did extremely well.

While in college, Kurt met Brenda, a divorced mother of two with one of them being blind. Their relationship had highs and lows and Kurt had to prove that he was going to treat her better than her ex-husband. Eventually Kurt got noticed by the Green Bay Packers, but only lasted two days in their training camp.

Financially things got hard for Kurt and Brenda. They both worked low-paying jobs and rarely got to see each other. Their faith was important to them and they believed that God had a plan for them though they couldn’t see how it would come to fruition.

Kurt got invited to play for the Iowa Barnstormers, an Arena Football League which is more fast-paced than national football. It’s also looked down upon by NFL players and because of that, Kurt initially refused the invitation. When utilities were not being paid on time, Kurt reconsidered. The money came in handy, especially since he got paid $100 per touchdown! The weekend games put some strain on his relationship with Brenda. They eventually got married and things fell into place when Kurt signed on with the St. Louis (now Los Angeles) Rams.

Not all of the coaches on the Rams weren’t willing to give Kurt a chance so he had to continue to prove his worth. A couple of Super Bowls later, Kurt has cemented his name into NFL history. All credit goes to God in his victory speeches though.

For the most part, this film is family-friendly. Some kissing is shown, but nothing more than that. There is also some minor language (d*mn) and there’s a rap song that plays during a scene and the word *ss can be heard in the lyrics. Football tackling and sports violence is a given.

Overall, this is a great story of faith and perseverance. Even if you’re not into football, this movie is still worth watching. If you don’t like country music either, you’ll have a harder time liking it, but it’s still possible.

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