Last Ounce of Courage

Honestly, I do not know why I bothered. If you have any appreciation for film, you will avoid this propaganda. Even if you support the message, which I generally do, you should at least give it an honest rating. Rating a low budget, poorly written, poorly acted, poorly directed film as high as Casablanca or Citizen Cane is a travesty. It is just plane WRONG. That being said, how could any intelligent person trust the truthfulness of the film's message if it is so blatantly wrapped in lies and deceit by the so-called "reviewers"? Al Qaeda techniques by those who claim to appose them. I struggled with the rating I chose, because my initial thought was to vote it a 1 in order to help balance the skewed ratings, but I didn't. That would be basically the same crime. No matter how those who falsely inflated the rating feel about the message, as a film it is still just plain bad.

This movie has come back in the news namely because the court case where Mike Huckabee robocalled everybody to promote this movie finally was decided and the makers need to pay out some $32 million dollars in damages. That's a little more than $10.00 per person though but it made me remember this movie all over again.

This takes place in an America that never was. It's an America where kids aren't allowed to bring bibles to school. There's never been any law like this on the books except you can't read from the bible in class nor can you teach the bible instead of actual history or science. It's a world where you can't have Christmas decorations anywhere. It's a world where kids never heard of Christmas carols because they don't play them on the radio anymore. In short, this is not happening anywhere in this country.

But that never stopped people with an agenda from pushing it and acting like they're the persecuted minority when last time I checked just about everybody in this country celebrates Christmas to one degree or another.

It's badly acted, poorly produced and has elements in it that simply aren't true no matter how much the makers want it to be true.

Avoid this unless you happen to like that kind of thing. Or even better, try to find a real Christmas movie if you're in the mood for one.

LAST OUNCE OF COURAGE is so over-the-top that one is tempted to brand it a parody: the heavy use of military march music to suggest patriotic resolution, the ham-fisted speechifying, the slimy cigar-smoking villain...but then there are the elements which are clearly meant to be funny, like the fey theater director (ha, ha) or the bumbling biker gang (who look tough, but are, of course, just a bunch of softies).

But what really makes the film a chore to watch is how weak a piece of propaganda it is. The villains never make a remotely rounded case for themselves; the (hilariously exaggerated) actions on the part of those who try to repress Christmas and religious expression are based on vague fear alone, and while vague fear has inspired many a misguided action, when there's a message to be conveyed (I assume that's what they were trying to do), there needs to be either something concrete to react against, or an actual nuanced exploration of the issues. In a general sense, liberals seem to be the antagonistic force here, but the film doesn't take an actual stand against anything.

It's also one of the most pandering films I've ever seen, using the Army, the Bible, Christmas trees, motorcycles, the word "freedom", the American flag, and the cross as grossly blunt symbols of what this film means to honor. But it's so empty-minded that these symbols do not elevate the film or its themes; they just underscore its total lack of substance.

The acting doesn't help. Marshall Teague was far more convincing as a psychotic henchman in ROAD HOUSE; he has one line in particular that would turn off this film's target audience. The character of Bob Revere is a hard one to really like (he's awfully self-righteous), and Teague's performance doesn't help matters. Jennifer O'Neill, a long, long time after SCANNERS or SUMMER OF '42, can do little with the role of Teague's wife. Fred Williamson, as the aforementioned villain, seems to realize how awful the film he's in is, and manages to bring a little more pizazz to his one-dimensional role. Not enough to make it a memorable performance, really, but he's definitely the best thing in the film.

Add to the leaden script and flat performances a cheap production and sloppy directing, and you've got one big steaming pile of film. Not recommended. Oh, wait--it IS "Chuck Norris approved". Make of that what you will.

This is what happens when a film's key theme is to illustrate the hardship middle class majority families endure due to the existence of non profit civil liberty advocacy groups. /s it's unbearable if you go in thinking it's a corny christmas movie to enjoy with the family. however, if you watch this w/ a group of semi-informed reasonable adult humans, it can be pretty entertaining, kind of like how The Room is now an enjoyable experience for most viewers.

Last Ounce of Courage takes place in a skewed, alternate reality where everyday freedoms HAVE been taken away and Christmas is actually threatened by people such as an African-American man from Washington DC (seriously ... the film went there). There is NOTHING subtle about this movie (the "TRUE" patriotic hero of the film has a last name of Revere) and it is comprised of nothing but false talking points that aren't even close to being true or becoming a reality. There are so many furrowed brows on display here the fictional town of Mt. Columbus appears to be among the angriest in film history. It is all balderdash.

Even with these preposterous assertions, what truly makes the film a disaster are the low production values, the over-the-top-hoping-for-an-Oscar acting, the blatant vilifying of select minorities and its sense of smugness that it has throughout for anybody with a differing opinion.

It is either this or a brilliant satire of the fanatical right ... in which case it may be genius.