It’s about one of the most momentous religious freedom cases in U.S. history. But don’t see the movie Average Joe just because of its historic importance.
It’s a heck of a good flick, too.
The film about former public high school coach Joseph Kennedy’s firing for engaging in silent prayer after games – and the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 landmark ruling protecting that right for all of us and our progeny – is simply an extraordinarily polished, even stylish, film.
It is, as noted by one of the scant handful of critics who deigned to weigh in at RottenTomatoes.com, “warm, witty and wise with just the right balance of heart and humor.”
It’s an astounding, still a bit surprising, triumph for an independent, conservative movie that arrived in theaters Thursday without much fanfare – and which may quickly disappear without fan support. Indeed, there were barely more audience members than mainstream reviews at the movie’s lone showing at a Kansas City theater on Friday.
What a tragedy, if this adroit telling of such a vital civil right providentially re-established — thanks in large part to religious freedom nonprofit First Liberty Institute’s advocacy for Kennedy — were to disappear quietly into the woodwork of time. Every schoolchild in America should be made a student of this case, and this film should be the curriculum.
Curiously and cleverly, Average Joe doesn’t accomplish that by lingering on courtrooms and justices. Instead, it does so by focusing on this average Joe and the injustice done to him (and the toll on his marriage) by his school in Bremerton in Washington state – and the frightening, un-American authoritarianism of denying a man a job in the public sector merely for taking a knee while thanking the Creator for the football game just played.
In his head, no less.
“But wait!” the Greek chorus carped. “He struck that conspicuous Christian pose! He Tebowed! He even attracted players – of both teams – to join him in prayer without asking them! Prayer! In the public square! How can we be expected to endure the soundless cacophony of gratitude in his head!
“It simply cannot be allowed to continue! Never mind the shootings and robberies and sexual assaults and self-degradation and moral rot taking place beyond that brightly lit football field – society must crush this dangerous manifestation of religion before it’s as catching as COVID!”
Well, those insufferable irreligious, or just hopelessly misguided, souls surrounding Kennedy, who somehow didn’t notice their channeling of North Korean repression on American soil, were sadly in good company: An astonishing three of nine Supreme Court justices agreed with them that the government could silence even silent prayer.
Our most basic rights are hanging by the tender threads of but three black robes, friends.
One would think such a story and such a victory for the average Joe should’ve been grist for the biggest movie studios on the planet. Alas, religious freedom – and, increasingly freedom of speech – is considered by some to be a “conservative” issue. If you want to celebrate the killing of the unborn, then come back and we’ll talk then!
Never mind, though. Troy Duhon’s and Robert Katz’s Bible-based GND Media Group, in association with Pure Flix and Fathom, put this film together expertly – with a vibrant, youngish screenplay by Stephanie Katz and agile directing by Harold Cronk.
All faith-based producers should dissect Average Joe for its vital parts. They’d find the writing, directing and acting superb – especially by Kennedy-portraying actor Eric Close (Without a Trace, Nashville) – who, you have to keep reminding yourself, is acting.
One of the shrewd techniques its creators employ in Average Joe – “breaking the fourth wall” by having an actor occasionally speak directly to the audience – is used sparingly, but for great effect – signaling a sophistication so often lost on films about faith.
Average Joe ups the game for the entire faith-based genre – just in time to draw viewers in to one of the most critical stories of faith in memory.
