Holidays often offer families a chance to gather, to enjoy some downtime together and maybe even space to watch a great movie.
Now, on Easter weekend, the obvious thing would be to focus on Easter movies. And I am going to give you one in my list below. But I’m not really going that direction here.
Instead, I’d like to give you some suggestions for movies that relate, in a very broad way, to the theme of Easter: redemption. A second chance. A new beginning.
Jesus came to save us, a people who despite our best efforts, are unable to save ourselves. The gift of Jesus’ life and death for us is a new life, a fresh start, a second chance to put right (with the Holy Spirit’s guidance) things that may have been utterly broken or hopeless before we came to know Him.
So with that in mind, here are seven films that, on some level, deal with the themes of redemption, second chances and comebacks.
No surprise here: Many of these movies are sports stories, which naturally lend themselves to all of those themes.
But in each, you’ll find stories of men and women who in some significant way reached the end of themselves or ran into barriers that seemed insurmountable. In each case, they found a way forward. Thus, these stories have the power to encourage us to hang on, to try again, to remember that we, too, may still have our own shot at redemption. “It ain’t over till it’s over,” Yogi Berra wisely said back in 1973.
And, as always, we would strongly recommend that you read the full review for each of these films before watching. Not all of them will be wholly appropriate for all audiences. But I do think all of them might encourage you to ponder what redemption looks like in action, and maybe even catalyze your thoughts about God’s redemptive work in your own life.
The Kid, PG:
Imagine life has worn you down. Imagine further that cynicism, exhaustion and never-ending work have turned you into, well, not a very pleasant person to be around. Then imagine that, somehow, your tired, middle-aged self was confronted by your 8-year-old self. Who, it turns out, is pretty disappointed in your lack of progress in life. That, in a nutshell, is the story of Disney’s The Kid, now streaming on Disney+. Bruce Willis stars as an image consultant whose own life is really quite a mess … until “the kid” shows up to challenge his perspective on life.
42, PG-13:
We likely take for granted today that men and women of all ethnicities can choose to pursue professional sports careers. But it wasn’t always that way, of course. In the movie 42, the late Chadwick Boseman portrays the courageous and barrier-breaking baseball star Jackie Robinson, who faced enormous pressure and racist hatred trying to break into the Major Leagues. We also see as his chief advocate, Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey (played by an almost unrecognizable Harrison Ford) fought for him, encouraged him and sought to protect him as much as possible every step of the way. You can stream this movie for free on HBO Max, or rent it on Amazon Prime for $1.99.
Risen, PG-13:
As promised, an honest-to-goodness Easter movie. But this one, if you haven’t seen it, isn’t like most you’ve ever seen before. The story plays out almost like a murder mystery, as a Roman tribune named Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) is given a vexing assignment from Pontius Pilate: Find the body of the crucified Jewish leader Jesus, as it’s curiously gone missing. World-weary Clavius has seen everything before. But as he digs into the case of Jesus’ missing body, things get more and more curious. Perhaps—perhaps—he can’t find the body because Jesus is not dead after all, but has risen just as He promised. You can stream the movie now on PureFlix, Sling TV or The Roku Channel.
Soul Surfer, PG-13:
You wouldn’t think a movie about a teen girl having her arm bitten off by a shark would make for a great second-chance story. But, if you haven’t heard of Hawaii surfer Bethany Hamilton, you’d be wrong. In 2011, actress AnnaSophia Robb (along with Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt) brought her incredible story to the big screen. We watch in the aftermath of the shark attack as Bethany veers between faith and despair, determination and capitulation. We also see how her deep pain and spiritual doubt become the very things that enable her to minister to tsunami survivors in Indonesia. (Bonus Pick: Be sure to check out the 2019 documentary about her too, Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable.)
Cinderella Man, PG-13:
You think you seen grit? You think you seen determination? You ain’t seen nothin’ till you see the story of Jim Braddock, a.k.a. the Cinderella Man. In 2005, director Ron Howard and actor Russell Crowe teamed up to give us one of the greatest second-chance redemption stories in American sports history. The film chronicles the ups, the downs and the way downs of boxer Jim Braddock. He had it all. He lost it all—at least from the world’s perspective. But he never quit fighting for his family, fighting to provide for them throughout the brutal poverty of the Great Depression. And, eventually, Braddock gets his shot to prove he still has what it takes to be a champion. You can stream this on several outlets, including Hulu, HBO Max and Amazon Prime.
American Underdog, PG:
If baseball, surfing or boxing aren’t your thing, perhaps football will scratch your sports comeback story kid. Last year brought us the instant classic American Underdog. In it, directors Andrew and John Erwin tell the story of Los Angeles Rams quarterback Kurt Warner, whose team won the Super Bowl in 2000 and who nabbed an MVP award along the way. But before reaching that pinnacle, Warner plumbed the depths of uncertainty, doubt and poverty waiting for a second chance at gridiron glory. And if football’s not your thing, well this is a love story, too—between Kurt and his wife, Brenda, as well as the love both have for God. You can rent the film for $5.99 on a variety of streaming outlets.
Pursuit of Happyness, PG-13:
By now, we all now that actor Will Smith made a life-changing choice to slap comedian Chris Rock at this year’s Academy Awards. The consequences are still playing out. But I hope that somewhere down the line, Smith can be offered a second chance at redemption himself—the kind Hollywood loves to put on the big screen. Smith is no stranger to that theme in his movies. And perhaps none are quite as poignant as the 2011 film in which he portrays a deeply impoverished man struggling mightily to climb out of poverty and to take care of his beloved young son along the way. You can find it on Pluto TV or rent it for as little as $2.99 on Vudu or Amazon Prime.
2 Responses
-I love the pursuit of happyness and think it’s Smith’s overall best film not counting Hitch or Aladdin, but it came out in 2006 not 2011.
-Thank you for this post. There are a lot of good movies in here. Personally I loved the happiness one (although smith right now is definitely not my favorite) Also liked the kid, 42, and would like to see American underdog plus risen seems good. I love how they focus on good things, even faith, and not what the worlds “truth” is. And since I can’t comment on the Disney one anymore have to say thank you so much for saying what alot of people are thinking about disney- how far down their going/destroying everything it stood for ie complete disgrace and opposite of what Walt would have wanted. Is so sad because the older Disney’s although yes didn’t have scripture obviously they definitely weren’t agenda pushing unlike today. Thank you for being a shining light in a dark world. Amazing how lost people can be and totally blind to the real truth (even so many other so called journalists…)