"Live By Faith, Not By Sight"
What You Need To Know:
23 BLAST is extremely entertaining and inspiring. Tightly written and directed, the movie charms viewers through funny moments and intriguing characters. 23 BLAST also has strong Christian, biblical values. Travis holds onto his faith and finds strength in God to overcome impossible obstacles. His parents are supportive and loving, and his friends refuse to let Travis give up. 23 BLAST almost perfectly expresses the Scripture passage, “For we live by faith, not by sight.” A light caution is advised for some minor obscenities and one scene of teenage drinking that’s rebuked.
Content:
(CCC, BBB, L, V, N, AA) Very strong Christian, biblical, moral worldview extolling faith, perseverance and friendship with many Christian elements including an important plot element taking place during a sermon, with prayer and Scripture positively reinforcing the story; five light obscenities (d*** and h***); some football playing, nothing violent; no sexual content, one kiss between teenagers; upper male nudity; two scenes with teenage drinking, one with drunkenness, though not condoned; no smoking; and, no other immoral content.
More Detail:
23 BLAST is a very well made, touching true story about a high school football player with incredible courage, determination and faith.
Ever since they were young, Travis Freeman and Jerry Baker were best friends. Both were extremely talented football players. However, Jerry, the quarterback, squanders his talents and goofs off instead of focusing. Travis, a star wide receiver, is an exceptional leader both on the field and off. Even with their differences, Travis and Jerry’s bond maintains.
When Travis gets an infection that causes him to go blind, his entire world is thrown upside down. His football dreams are crushed, and all Travis wants to do is shut the world out. However, Jerry doesn’t give up on him and helps bring a little joy to his darkened world. Additionally, Travis is assigned to Patty, a mobility coach who pushes him to not be held back by his disability.
Meanwhile, Coach Farris is facing a tough year for his team, and Jerry isn’t performing well enough. So, he’s forced to bench Jerry and put in the second string quarterback. To make matters worse, if the team doesn’t do well this season, Coach Ferris will lose his job.
Coach Farris sees that the team lacks inspiration, so he comes up with an idea to bring Travis back on the team as the center. He convinces Travis that all he’ll have to do is snap the ball and block one man. With some training, he believes Travis can be the inspiration the team needs. Skeptical at first, Travis is inspired to take the leap of faith and ultimately learns that he doesn’t need sight to accomplish great things. Can he help save the team?
23 BLAST is extremely entertaining and inspiring. Tightly written and directed, the movie charms viewers through funny moments and intriguing characters. With veteran actors including Stephan Lang as Coach Farris and Dylan Baker as Travis’s father (in addition to directing the movie), this independent feature is a clear winner.
Even better, 23 BLAST has strong Christian and biblical values. Travis holds onto his Christian faith and finds strength in God to overcome impossible obstacles. His parents are supportive and loving and his friends refuse to let Travis be anything less than remarkable. 23 BLAST is almost a perfect expression of the biblical passage in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we live by faith, not by sight.”
A light caution is advised for some minor obscenities and one scene of teenage drinking that’s not condoned.