In our world today, religious “freedom” has become more of religious “sensitivity.” We are too scared to share our beliefs because of what others might think of us and how they might react. We need to change this; we need to fight back.

In the Last Ounce of Courage, this point is strongly addressed. The main plot centers around how our freedoms, specifically religious freedoms, have been slowly wasted away until we don’t even realize that we don’t possess them anymore.

Bob Revere (Marshall Teague), the mayor of his small town in the mountians of Colorado and former war veteran, takes his stand against the nonsense that is happening around him.

One thing you will notice right off the bat is the low budget aspect of the film, the sub-par acting and the slow moving plot. It can be frustrating but if you bear with it and focus on the message, it truly is a great movie.

The movie begins with a quote from Ronald Regan from 1961 about our freedoms. It then leads into Bob’s son heading off to war, leaving his pregnant wife, Kari Revere (Nikki Novak), with Bob and his family. Bob’s son is later killed in the war and a funeral is held for him.

The movie jumps ahead 14 years later where Tom’s son, Christian (Hunter Gomez), is a teenager living with his mom. Together they move in with Bob and his wife Dottie Revere (Jennifer O’Neill) in the Colorado mountians.

At his new school, Christian gets in trouble for bringing a Bible to class. Later on when he gets home, he asks the question, “What are we doing?” He wonders what has happened to their freedoms since he couldn’t even take a Bible to school. Bob takes this into consideration and realizes that his grandson is right.

Upon entering the Christmas season, and as mayor of the town, Bob decides to put up Christmas decorations throughout the town. The media gets a hold of this and makes a big deal about it beause he is not considering the beliefs of others.

Some of the people do not celebrate Christmas or do not believe in Jesus Christ, so the media blames him for not allowing people their “freedoms.” The matters become worse when a member of Congress gets involved, saying that it is a federal law.

Meanwhile, Christian and a group of friends from school decide to “sabotage” the winter play, when really they are just changing the script to tell the real “winter” story. It takes a lot of planning and not everyone is happy about doing it but the kids make an important point with their presentation.

The plot may sound cheezy and the acting may not be the best, yet something about this movie makes you want to keep watching it. It takes hold of the heart and doesn’t let it go until the credits role. It keeps you engaged till the final minute and let me tell you, it is worth every second.

This movie sends out a very important message: it focuses on our freedoms as Americans and Christians and how we should not take them for granted. We need to stand our ground, and stand up for what we believe in.

Whether it be standing up for Jesus as Christians or standing up for our freedoms as citizens of the U.S. Therefore, this movie applies perfectly to our school’s theme for this year, “We Are One: Standing Firm.”

I really encourage all families, especially those who attend FC, to see this movie. It is emotionally stirring, spiritually inspiring and motivationally moving. If you aren’t crying by the time the credits hit the screen, something is wrong with you.

To put it into perspective, it is easily comparable to Facing the Giants, Courageous and Fireproof. My hope is that this movie receives as much recognition as those three. Although many people have not heard of this movie, I hope word gets out and people take time to see the movie with an open mind.

This movie is rated PG for brief sequences of war images and has a running time of 101 minutes.

For more movie reviews, read the Sept. 24 article, Baseball flick similar to “comfort food” (VIDEO).