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A few months ago, a little Christian film called Facing the Giants—which opens in limited theaters this Friday—made national news because the MPAA reportedly gave it a PG rating solely because the movie talks about Jesus.

The news stirred an outcry among some Christians—and at least one U.S. Congressman, Roy Blunt of Missouri, who publicly reprimanded the MPAA. The American Family Association rallied its supporters, who allegedly bombarded the MPAA with 143,000 e-mail complaints.

The MPAA then said, hold on, we never said the PG was because of the Christian angle, but because of "thematic elements"—like violence (some hard-hitting scenes on the football field), infertility (one of the main characters can't get pregnant), and depression. Some skeptical observers wondered if the filmmakers had trumped up the MPAA-as-bad-guy story just to get the publicity.

Kendrick, editing 'Giants' at his desk

But the filmmakers, Alex and Stephen Kendrick of Sherwood Pictures, say they were stunned at the sudden limelight—even though it did amount to a ton of free publicity, something they couldn't afford on the film's $100,000 budget, all donated by church members and others. Sherwood Pictures is a ministry of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, where the Kendrick brothers serve as associate pastors.

Facing the Giants tells the fictional story of Grant Taylor, a football coach at a Christian school who is dealing with some difficult circumstances—his wife is infertile, his team can't win, and the athletic boosters want to replace him with another coach. It amounts to a crisis of faith until Grant cries out to God, promising to put him first—and then all kinds of things start going right for Grant and those around him.

We spoke with Alex Kendrick, who wrote, directed, and stars (as Grant, the lead character) in the film, about the MPAA brouhaha, the making of the movie, and his reactions to those who are criticizing the film.

I understand a Barna report had a role in your decision to make movies.

Alex Kendrick: Yes. In 2002, he had a report that said movies and television more influential on our culture than church or religion. That prompted our first movie [2003's Flywheel, made on a $20,000 budget]. The pastor said, "Well, Alex, if you want to do this, bring me a story and a script, and let's just pray our way through. And if the Lord opens the door, we'll do it." I agreed to that. And God answered dozens of prayers, but it's flat-out hard to make a movie.

Especially with limited personnel, equipment, and budget.

Kendrick: Yes. I see things in my head and I ask God for ideas. But getting those wonderful images out of your head on to a screen is unbelievably difficult. I used to be very critical of what other Christians were doing with movies until I tried it myself. Because to be honest, Christian movies have a terrible, cheesy reputation.

Oh really?

Kendrick: I don't mean to be critical, because I know a lot of people in the Christian movie-making business. And I have more respect for them now, but not necessarily more respect for the product. The product still is either effective or it's not.

Let's talk about Facing the Giants. Is this story in any way autobiographical for you?

Kendrick: Only in the sense that everything that happens in the movie has happened to someone in our church or family. There was a couple who couldn't have any children. There was a coach who was given a vehicle by the school because of his ministry to the students. And a team that was 0-and-3 and ended up making the playoffs.

My main quibble with the film is after Grant gets serious about his faith, everything goes right. It doesn't usually work that way in real life.

Kendrick: That's always the first negative comment we get after our test screenings. I'm not a name-it-and-claim-it guy; I think God does allow us to struggle. But when I was writing this script, Stephen and I were reading Job, and we asked, "Why did God allow Job to go through so much to hit rock bottom? And then why did he give Job more health, more wealth at the end than he had at the beginning?"

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