Raising the Bar, the Alma Richards Story

Another excellent movie from Angel Studios! Well done. Captured my heart the first 5 minutes. Actors were incredible and well chosen. Great inspirational movie. Shows that even those from humble beginnings can raise to greatness with the help of God all things are possible. Bullying is not acceptable in any manner. He almost gave up because of it. Exceptional movie I'll be taking my nieces and nephews to. Great message. Thank you Angel studios.

Brief preamble: there is a lot of history packed into the end during the credits so do be sure to stick around.

That being said this is a wonderful film in the grand tradition of sportsmen overcoming obstacles, literally in this case (the high jump bar).

This is a film firmly rooted in family and faith (in keeping with other productions from these filmmakers) so if you've enjoyed their other films you're guaranteed to like this.

Hollywood doesn't seem to be able to make these kinds of movies anymore so it's reassuring to see people stepping into the gap to provide quality entertainment for the whole family. These movies can still be made and SHOULD be made.

What an amazing story of human heart, American pride and due diligence in adversity! Alma was a gentle giant who became an incredible athlete and teacher! Alma's achievements become an inspiration for generations to come. Living through faith show's you and those around you how God works in us, his generosity, kindness of heart, showing you your character in the Lord.

This was a really great and beautiful story told in a very awkward way. The movie consisted of two things and only these two things. First, awkward moments intended to be funny. Second, a handsome and well-casted actor who was supposed to be playing someone awkward, but actually wasn't made fun of by people who were actually awkward and very intentionally so. I enjoyed the story, but the way it was told made me feel uncomfortable almost the entire sitting. There were just so many long, awkward pauses between different actors at different times. I'd still recommend seeing it, but if there were a book about it, I'd recommend that more.

I've liked many of these based-on-a-true-story inspirational stories and disliked some. THis one gripped me the most. The acting, costuming and make-up capturing the era are superb. For a no-name cast, I was extremely impressed - especially the one-or-two scene actors getting everything as if I watching it live. The story seems to have been impeccably researched. There's never a slow moment.

A number of these inspirational films get very religious and preachy. This one barely mentions church, just personal integrity and purpose-of-life. Alma's spirituality is very understated until the climactic scene and even then it's just deeply personal. It's his humility, perseverance and strength of spirit that carries him to achieve what no one before him could do. I thoroughly loved it from start to finish.