Review of When The Game Stands Tall. Review by R.L. Bailey

Review of When The Game Stands Tall

By R.L. Bailey

Movie Genre: true life, biography

5/5 Angel wings for story

Starring Jim Caviezel, Alexander Ludwig, Michael Chiklis, Laura Dern, and Clancy Brown.

For the most part, faith-based movies don’t do so well for whatever reason. But with the movie, When the Game Stands Tall, the viewer quickly gets the point that, yes, this is a faith-based movie, but it is also an incredibly well acted, well scripted story. The movie tells the tale of The De La Salle High School football team, their amazing winning streak, 151 wins, no losses in 12 years, and the coach, Bob Ladouceur, played brilliantly by the wonderful actor Jim Caviezel, who took a real, true vested interest in each and every player.

It’s all roses and good times…until real life comes screaming into the picture. Coach has a heart attack, then one of the most loved players dies violently. Still reeling from those two things, the new season starts, and the team loses. Their first loss in 13 years. Then they lost a second time. The streak was over.

Coach stepped back and revaluated everything that was important to him. He made the team realize they were more than just a streak of wins. They were family, through good times and bad, and they would always have each other. Once the team starts to really believe that, things start to turn around.

As I stated earlier, this is a faith-based movie. However, that shouldn’t deter anyone from watching it. It’s not preachy; it just conveys the message that life isn’t a guarantee of anything. The acting is top-notch, most notably Jim Caviezel, and Michael Chiklis, as his best friend and assistant coach, Terry. This is a movie for all ages, young and old, and one that I would gladly pay to see a second, or third, time.

 

Review of C Through Marriage by Reverend Jim Hughes

Review by R.L. Bailey

Genre- Self Help

5/5 Angel stars

Stand alone book

 

Being married does not necessarily mean that we will always live happily ever after. We wish it were so, but life is not like that. Life has its ups and downs. There are many good times, and there are times in which life is not so good. Calamity happens to everybody sooner or later.

 

This statement is in the first chapter of the book C Through Marriage, by Rev. Jim Hughes. It is quite possibly one of the best and well written paragraphs I have ever read. Everyone goes into marriage thinking it’s going to be hearts and flowers, and as Rev. Hughes points out, life doesn’t work that way.

Each chapter starts with the letter C.  Cash, Contentment, Courtship, etc., and at the end of each chapter are points to ponder. In each chapter, you learn something you might not have known, or…known but never acknowledged. The book is a fast read. Rev. Hughes points things out in a simple, easy-to-understand way. Also, each chapter is laced with biblical references, which makes sense since the author is a Pastor.

I really, really liked this book. From both a spiritual and secular point of view, the book just makes sense. Too many times a married couple believes that the honeymoon will last forever, and it just doesn’t. Daily living, money woes, children, different ways of doing things all come into play in a marriage and too easily these days, people will give up and move on to another person. A real marriage, both in mind, body, and soul requires work. Rev. Hughes makes the case that with open, honest communication, prayer, and a spiritual base, any marriage can be helped.

 

 

Review of Hard Choices, by Hillary Clinton, by R.L. Bailey

Review of

Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Review by R.L. Bailey

A Biography

5/5 angel wings

 

A caveat…I love Hillary Clinton and I have since she was nothing more than the wife of a man wanting to be President, so it was with great glee that her newest book finally hit the shelves. Let me say right from the get go, if you aren’t a fan of Mrs. Clinton, this book won’t change your mind.

The book starts on June 5, 2008, with Hillary on her way to a secret meeting with then candidate, Barack Obama. Mrs. Clinton describes that meeting as something akin to an awkward first date, and the reader can see why. It was a first chance to reunite the party, and make a solid unified run for the White House.

Of course, then came the speech. The one that broke the heart of every Hillary supporter; mine included. I can remember sitting there, tears pouring down my face as she so graciously dropped out of the running.

“Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it. And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time. That has always been the history of progress in America.”

Her speech later on at the Democratic National Convention was one of her finest moments in public life and forever sealed her place in the national circuit. After the disappointment of losing the nomination, Mrs. Clinton assumed she would go back to doing what she did so well; represent the people of New York. But the now President Obama had bigger and better plans for her. Soon, she was sworn in as Secretary of State, the most senior post in the Cabinet and fourth in line to the presidency. A job she, quite frankly, didn’t want. Yet her spirit of public duty, of putting the good of the country ahead of her own needs, kicked in and she took the job.

The book runs over the course of the four years she was Secretary of State. To me, the most dramatic of those years was the night the SEALS captured and killed Osama Bin Laden. You can feel the collective hearts pounding in unison as the President, Secretary of State Clinton, and others watch in horrified awe as first the copter set down, then the heroic actions of the men sent in to do the job take over. She writes of the strained relations between the U.S. and Europe, and the terrible, awful night of September 11, 2012, when our Embassy in Bengazi, Libya was attacked and four men were killed. During the hearings over what happened, Mrs. Clinton took responsibility for the security lapses that led to the attacks.

No matter what she dealt with, from a rude Russian Premier, to those who would pat her on the head and say good little girl, now go back in the kitchen where you belong,  Mrs. Clinton has held her head high and proud. She isn’t afraid to confront an issue head on, and she doesn’t back down when right is on her side. Her writing is crisp, clear, and very concise. She doesn’t sugar coat anything, nor would I expect her to. She handles her detractors with grace and class, even those hard, painful moments of her life that should have remained private.

As I said in the beginning of this review, if you are not a fan, you won’t be after reading this book. If you are, then what you will take away is a better understanding of the woman behind the titles of wife, mother, Senator, Secretary of State, and for me and a generation of women who have waited patiently for our turn, hopefully one day, President Hillary Clinton.

 *book bought by reviewer*