Why is it that every time I sit down to watch a film by the Christ-heavy Erwin Brothers, I usually end up with a steady rate of tears flowing down my full cheeks? I only ask because it happened again with their latest flick, American Underdog, the inspirational story of former NFL MVP Kurt Warner, a man I never knew existed until I watched this film.
When the movie starts, the 41-year-old Zachary Levi plays the college-aged Warner, an eternally-benched quarterback that, if he could just get his one true shot, could be the greatest football player…of all time!!!
As we follow him through his piss-poor jobs, such as a lowly grocery store employee that has to live on welfare while dating single mom and ex-Marine Brenda (the very lovely Anna Paquin), he is eventually recruited by an arena league football team in Iowa, coached by the lovably gruff Bruce McGill.
Receiving $100 for every touchdown he makes—or helps make, I’m not sure—Brenda is about to break up with him when her parents die in a tornado. Thankfully, that tragedy inspires them to get married and, in probably the most tear-jerking scene of the whole movie, her special needs son sings a country song to Kurt at their wedding.
Just thinking about it now is causing my eyes to well with wholly masculine feelings.