"An Inspiring Movie About Overcoming Any Difficulty"

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What You Need To Know:
The movie features a very strong biblical worldview, placing Anthony as a strong role model, both in the movie and real life, who represents hard work, perseverance, human dignity, justice, caring for the weak, and equality. Furthermore, multiple characters make positive references to Christianity, making remarks about prayer, the Bible, and the Lord. This story is well told and is faithful to the real-life Anthony Robles. Unfortunately, it features extreme foul language, with a total of 35 profanities and obscenities throughout. Furthermore, it broaches topics of abuse and divorce, which could be too much for sensitive audiences. Thus, Movieguide® advises caution for older teenagers and adults.
Content:
More Detail:
UNSTOPPABLE is an inspiring movie on Amazon Prime about the true story of Anthony Robles, a world-class wrestler who made a name for himself in the sport despite only having one leg. After winning the high school national championship as a senior, Anthony believes he will be offered a full ride to many colleges with strong wrestling programs. His dreams are crushed when he only receives one offer from Drexel University, a school with a mediocre program. Rather than give up, he preserves and fights to prove his irrefutable talent despite his disability.
Despite Drexel’s subpar program, he considers taking them up as the free tuition is hard to turn down. However, he decides to stay in his hometown in Arizona after his stepfather leaves his mother and their four kids. Luckily for Anthony, he’s within commuting distance of Arizona State University (ASU), which has a strong wrestling program.
After meeting with the coach, he realizes that making the team is not guaranteed, and he has to prove himself as a walk-on rather than having a secure spot. On the first day of tryouts, 55 people show up, and the coach has to cut the roster down to 33, so a series of challenges commence to reveal who has what it takes to make the team.
These brutal challenges of strength and endurance are difficult for everyone involved and nearly impossible for Anthony, though his perseverance and unwillingness to quit impress the coach. As tryouts continue, Anthony makes it through trial after trial until the coach runs a mock meet to narrow down the final competitors. Those who win their match make the team, while the losers are cut.
When Anthony returns home for dinner before heading to the meet, he’s surprised to find his stepdad at home. His stepdad claims that he’s had a long thought about his life and that he made a mistake in leaving the family. After dinner, the stepdad says the whole family should watch the meet, even though he has never shown an interest in Anthony’s wrestling before.
Having his stepdad at the meet completely throws Anthony off as he sits disapprovingly in the stands. Anthony can’t shake his focus. He’s easily defeated, cutting him from the team. The next day, the coach has great news as he tells Anthony that he moved his roster around to find room for Anthony to stay. However, he tells him he needs to overcome his mental barriers before he can succeed on the mat.
In Anthony’s sophomore year of college, disaster strikes as ASU’s wrestling program funding is cut, leaving them all without a way to compete. The next year, it gets reinstated, and Anthony is brought on with a full scholarship at his teammates’ request. He has an outstanding year and ends up qualifying for the NCAA tournament to determine the champions in each weight division.
After a few hard-fought battles, Anthony ends up in the final meet, facing off for the championship. His opponent is last year’s winner, who has gone undefeated this season. Intimidated by his opponent’s strength, Anthony is thrown off his game and becomes too aggressive. This opens him up to a devastating counterattack that loses him the match on the spot.
When he gets home, things get even worse as he finds his siblings locked out of the house because his mom and stepdad are in a major fight. Anthony breaks into the house to defend his mother and gets in a fight with his stepfather, which results in Anthony putting him in a chokehold. The police arrive, and they take the stepfather away in handcuffs for the assault. Anthony has a difficult conversation with his mother, telling her she can’t take him back; so, she agrees.
Senior year of college arrives, and Anthony is fired up to win the NCAA championship this year. He knows that if he wins, his disability will no longer be the first thing people see when they see him, but if Anthony loses, he’ll always be someone people feel pity. Wanting to cement his name, Anthony puts his full focus into the sport and ends the season undefeated. He breezes through the NCAA championship, quickly finding himself in the final round. As fate would have it, Anthony faces off against the same wrestler as last year, who also had an undefeated season. The two Titans face off. Who will win the hard-fought battle?
UNSTOPPABLE is an extremely inspiring movie that proves that a person can achieve any goal with enough hard work and determination. Even though Anthony was overlooked by all the college coaches, he proved that he was deserving of success by fighting his way to a championship title. Furthermore, the movie is extremely well made, starring some big-name actors and featuring an excellent score.
The movie also teaches strong biblical messages, especially regarding what being a man means. Though Anthony’s stepfather is a deadbeat who gets his way through intimidation, Anthony is an excellent role model for his younger siblings, showing them the traits of a good man, such as hard work, perseverance, stepping up, justice, protection, and kindness.
Furthermore, multiple characters positively reference the Bible, prayer, and the Lord. However, the movie features very strong foul language, especially during the story’s first half, totaling 35 obscenities and profanities throughout. Additionally, the topic of marital abuse is present, which could be intense for younger viewers. Thus, Movieguide® advises extreme caution for older teenagers and adults.