Average Joe

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Biography/History, Christian, Drama, Sports

Directed by: Harold Cronk

Written by:: Stephanie Katz

Release Date
Theater: October 10, 2024

Cast: Eric Close as Joe Kennedy; Amy Acker as Denise Kennedy; Austin Woods as Joe Kennedy, 20s; Andrea Figliomeni as Denise, 20s; Ezra Richardson as Young Joe; Annabelle Holloway as Young Denise; Lyle Brocato as Joe’s Dad; Ann Mahoney as Joe’s Mom; Paul Rae as Head Coach Byron Adams

Review Courtesy: PluggedIn
Reviewer: Adam R. Holz



MOVIE REVIEW
Joe Kennedy didn’t set out to be a crusader.

But his commitment to thanking God publicly, on the 50-yard line, after every high school football game he helped to coach in Bremerton, Washington, made him one anyway. In fact, that quiet-but-unwavering commitment took the assistant coach all the way to the Supreme Court in a landmark case involving free speech and religious liberty. Average Joe tells his remarkable and, as we’ll see, remarkably unlikely true story in a dramatized, pseudo-documentary style.

“I was a hellion of a kid,” Joe (played by Eric Close) tells a dramatized film team documenting his fight for religious liberty. “The last thing I want is it making me out to be some kind of choirboy. I mean, you ask anybody who knows me, I was a hellion of a kid nobody wanted. I was always in trouble or causing it. So if you told me that saying a prayer on the 50-yard line was the thing that was gonna get me in the biggest fight of my life, you can’t tell me that God doesn’t have a sense of humor.”

Joe, we soon learn through a series of flashback narration scenes, may not have been looking for this fight. But one way or another, he’s always been a fighter—and often not in a good way.

Those fights began with Joe’s adoptive family. “So when my birth mother gave me up for adoption, she was told I was going to an older, wealthy couple who lived on a farm and couldn’t have kids. … This was a big lie.” Indeed, the couple had lots of kids—but no farm and no money. And, it seems, no patience for Joe’s combative attitude, either, as a boy who felt abandoned. The only redeeming aspect of young Joe’s life is meeting a girl named Denise, whose parents are constantly fighting.

But Joe and Denise are separated when Joe is eventually sent away to a Christian home for troubled boys. There, a kind and very patient man tries to help Joe find God. “You are a survivor,” the man tells Joe. “But you can’t do it alone. Only God can heal all that hurt and anger.”

“Why would God care about me?” Joe asks, bitterly. “Nobody else does.”

“Because God doesn’t make throwaways. Maybe you should give Him a try.”

And so Joe does, becoming a Marine, fighting in Iraq and eventually reconnecting with Denise after both have first marriages to other people that fail. After finishing active duty with the Marines, Joe ends up coaching high school football in Bremerton, more determined than ever to give God the glory in every aspect of his life: “Alright, God, alright. I’m all in. Win or lose, I’m going to give You thanks after every game.”

It’s a simple prayer, born of conviction. And Joe’s unwavering commitment to quietly thanking God stirs up a hornets’ next of controversy, eventually taking him and Denise all the way to the Supreme Court to defend Joe’s right to pray publicly.

POSITIVE ELEMENTS
Average Joe culminates in the conflict that the movie’s premised upon: Joe Kennedy’s refusal to stop giving thanks to God at midfield after each football game. But that final showdown at the Supreme Court is smaller percentage of the film than you might expect.

A large part of the narrative is devoted to Joe’s dramatic backstory, growing up as, essentially, an orphan and fighting back over and over again. We see that Joe eventually began to channel that anger in a positive direction by joining the Marines and fighting for freedom and to protect his fellow soldiers.

Joe also shares an ongoing correspondence with Denise, by letter, for much of the film. As childhood friends, they encourage each other in their mutual struggles. And eventually, they connect again. It takes time for Joe to prove his trustworthiness to Denise, who had been badly hurt in her first, abusive marriage.

Denise works as the head of HR at the high school where Joe coaches. As controversy surrounding his prayer stance grows—generating a cadre of school administrators who are opposed to him—Denise mostly tries to keep a low profile and doesn’t go out of her way to defend Joe publicly. Her reputation sinks as Joe continues to hold fast to his beliefs, causing a temporary rift in their marriage. Denise, for her part, tries to help her husband understand the great price she’s paying on his behalf; but Joe is initially unwilling to consider how he might honor his commitment to God but still honor his wife, too. In this, the film proffers what seems like a realistic look at how even sticking to spiritual convictions can cause tension in a marriage, though that tension is eventually resolved when Denise tells her supervisor that she’s steadfastly standing behind her husband.

SPIRITUAL ELEMENTS
As noted, the central conflict in the film is the fact that Joe insists on praying publicly, kneeling at the 50-yard line after every game. Increasingly throughout this part of the story, Joe comes under severe pressure to stop doing this, as many in the school believe (wrongly, the Supreme Court affirms) that Joe’s actions could be construed as violating the separation of church and state.

That sentiment increases when students (sometimes from opposing teams) begin joining him to pray, which further incites the school administration. They argue that Joe’s role as a coach could mean that some students feel that they have no choice but to join him, even if they don’t share his beliefs.

Though the conflict is framed in the film as a case about fighting for religious freedom, what’s more interesting is Joe’s core spiritual motivation. On the surface, he’s definitely fighting for the freedom and the right to express his Constitutionally guaranteed religious beliefs. But under the surface, Joe’s commitment is driven by his promise to God to give thanks after each game. “From now on, I’m gonna kneel right here on this 50-yard line like I promised You, no matter what,” Joe prays.

When Joe is a teen, his spiritual mentor takes Joe out to see a gnarly old tree growing out of a rock, saying, “You’re that tree, Joe.” Years later, as the football-field prayer controversy erupts, Joe’s now much-older mentor pays him another visit and reminds him the tree’s lesson: “That tree’s still standing. You know why? Because God had a plan for that tree. So He made sure it got just enough water so it wouldn’t dry up. … [And] God has been preparing you for this fight your whole life, Joey. And I am so proud of you.”

Denise and Joe endure a growing conflict about what it means for Joe to be faithful to God but also to be faithful to Denise in their marriage. Eventually, Joe realizes that he’s never really invited Denise to share the conviction that drives him not to compromise, even though the toll on her is significant. He tells her, “I can’t stop. I promised God that if He healed our marriage, that I would do whatever He asked. And making this stand is what He’s asked of me. And it should have been our decision from the start, not just mine.”

In a humorous scene in which Joe is resisting God’s leading, we see him watching TV, where every commercial delivers a cascading spiritual message with lines of dialogue such as, “Can you hear me?” “It’s time to stop running.” And, “I’m talking to you.”

Joe and Denise both grapple with their faith elsewhere in the film, too, especially when Denise goes through a season of severe depression. In a letter to Denise during his deployment, Joe writes, “I appreciate your praying for me, but God seems like a fairytale over here. I feel like I’m dying a little inside every day.” A sign in the barracks at Marine Corps’ basic training spells out “GOD,” which is an acronym for “Good Order Discipline.”

Joe has a conversation over a cup of coffee with someone who doesn’t agree with him, and he spells out his convictions to the man, saying, “Look, I’m a Marine. And the Constitution means something to me. Our religious freedoms, they belong to every single American, no matter what they believe. And I don’t want anybody taking them away from us.” Regarding the substance of those beliefs that are protected, Joe adds, “It doesn’t matter to me who you believe in, whether it’s God or Allah or unicorns.”

SEXUAL AND ROMANTIC CONTENT
As kids, Joe and Denise hide out in a garage, snuggling a bit. As adults who are reconnecting, Joe and Denise kiss. After they’re married, we see them in bed together, but just talking, not in any kind of sexual encounter.

VIOLENT CONTENT
A flashback shows intense combat in Iraq when Joe is a Marine. It’s implied that some of Joe’s fellow Marines were killed in a battle in which men get blown out of trenches by mortars.

As a child, Joe is involved in a brutal fight with another boy who mocks him; Joe pummels him mercilessly, punching the boy’s face with his fist four or five times. It’s also hinted that Joe himself is physically abused by a much older man, as he has bruises and cuts on his face after an encounter (which we hear the beginning of but don’t see directly).

It’s played as a pratfall in the film, but Joe falls down some stairs on his porch.

CRUDE OR PROFANE LANGUAGE
Joe’s adoptive father exclaims, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, son!” when Joe walks into the house after being beaten up by someone. A Marine Corps drill sergeant calls his men things like “maggots” and “turds,” among other things.

We hear one misuse of God’s name, and someone exclaims, “Oh my Lord.”

There are four uses of “a–,” one of “heck” and one of “crap.”

DRUG AND ALCOHOL CONTENT
As a teen, Joe cuts school and goes to a bar, where he plays pool until a policeman comes to arrest him—and as others drink around him. An older man who physically abuses Joe is pretty obviously drunk. Joe and Denise have wine at dinner (as adults).

OTHER NOTEWORTHY ELEMENTS
The opening sequence features Joe in white underwear standing on the back of a Humvee trying to lasso a camel. (The scene is actually something of a dream sequence that never actually happened.)

Denise says she’s dealing with a litany of mental health issues after her emotionally abusive first marriage, including PTSD, anxiety and depression, all of which have made her very angry, she says. Denise and Joe’s marriage goes through a low spot due to the stress of what’s happening to them and the amount of energy that Joe devotes to defending religious freedom.

A drill sergeant in the Marines is stereotypically verbally abusive to his unit. He tells his troops, “I’m your mommy now.”

Young Joe shoots pool (billiards) for money at the bar mentioned above.

CONCLUSION
The Constitution, as Joe Kennedy rightly notes, enshrines every American’s right to believe what they want and to express their spiritual convictions. In Average Joe, a coach who believes in thanking God at midfield after every football game has that fundamental right challenged—a challenge that goes all the way to the Supreme Court.

That’s the overall thrust of this true story—a case that was only recently vindicated by the Supreme Court in a landmark ruling affirming freedom of religion. Many who share Joe Kennedy’s perspective and convictions will likely be drawn to this movie for that reason.

What surprised me, though, was that the story we encounter here is bigger than that conflict. We see how Joe’s tumultuous life has shaped his faith, both in the good moments and the bad. And, frankly, it feels like Joe has endured more of the latter.

So by the time the movie’s signature standoff finally comes into view, we’re able to better understand how God has molded Joe’s character for that moment, that fight.

I like that about this film. It’s not just one righteous man vs. evil government forces, a plot device that can feel two-dimensional and stereotypical. No, this time around we get a bigger story about a man who’s fought through hard things but who is determined to follow God faithfully, no matter the consequences.

This story will, I believe, connect with a lot of families. I should also note, however, that there’s some PG-13 grittiness here. We get a bit of language, some violent moments (both in battle and between kids fighting) and, of course, Joe’s abusive childhood. Those content issues may give the film a sense of authenticity for some viewers, but they also might nudge it just out of bounds for families with young viewers.

All in all, though, Average Joe delivers an inspirational portrait of a man fueled by faith who refuses to discard his beliefs when he’s mightily pressured to do so.

REVIEWED BY ADAM R. HOLZ
After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and ... watching movies.