Randall Murphree

AFA Journal editor

September 2011 – Courageous, the fourth feature film from Sherwood Pictures, is a dramatic and often intense look at the lives of four cops and a handy-man friend who initially handle their careers better than they handle their kids. How they come to grips with the challenges of fatherhood is the theme of the story. (See review on here.)

The subject matter is deep and serious, but when Adam Mitchell and Javier Martinez meet in Mitchell’s back yard, it is a laugh-out-loud scene, one of many in Courageous. That scene and others that capitalize on the comic charisma between actors Alex Kendrick (Mitchell) and Robert Amaya (Martinez) are critical for easing the tension occasionally.

Amaya and his wife are worship leaders and children’s ministry leaders in their Miami church. He was excited when he first learned that Sherwood was looking for a Latino actor for their new film.

“As soon as I heard about it, I got in touch with them,” he told AFA Journal. “They flew me up to meet them and did some screen tests. And really, we just got along right off the bat.”

Fatherhood
When Amaya began work on Courageous, he and his wife had just celebrated their first child’s first birthday, and it was a challenge to work several hours away from home. But the theme of what it takes to be a good father gave him extra reason to pay close attention.

“One of the beautiful things Sherwood did was that they made sure I came home every weekend,” he said. “The family unit is so important to them. They made sure that I was in touch with my wife every night. They taught me a lot about how it’s possible to balance the professional side and the family side in this industry.”

Sherwood principals say the most critical thing a dad does is the example he sets. “When dads follow Christ,” executive director Stephen Kendrick said, “kids are 22 times more likely to live for the Lord. Courageous is a bold declaration of what fathers should be and can be.” 

Faithfulness
Though he was saved as a young boy, Amaya admits that his daughter’s birth changed everything.

“When my daughter was born,” he said, “I looked at her and for the first time, I think I got a piece of what God feels when He looks at us. I really rededicated myself strongly to the Lord, and I’ve been at His mercy and service ever since.”

For Amaya, a bonus blessing of playing an out-of-work father in Courageous was the insight into his own family background.

“My dad was an immigrant from El Salvador,” he said. “He struggled, he didn’t have much money. Yet he was able to stand strong on his faith in God. Sometimes he didn’t know how he was going to provide, but his faith never wavered. This gave me an opportunity to appreciate my dad more and to see the importance of my own role in my family.”  

Future filmmakers 
“Christian films are going to get better and better,” Stephen Kendrick told AFA Journal. “Alex and I are trying to help teach the next generation of filmmakers what we’re learning – by speaking at events and conferences.”

Well, I saw it happen first hand at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in February, soon after my interview with Kendrick. Four young filmmakers had rented a space for each to make a quick appeal for his film endeavors. I wondered why Stephen Kendrick was among the dozen or so attendees. What could he learn there?

When the session ended, I expected him to make a quick exit. But the young men clustered around him like Little Leaguers to a Hall of Fame hero. Then it hit me – he was doing what he said.

Ever the skeptic, I decided to watch. I walked down the hall a ways and waited – for 20 minutes – until Kendrick had answered the last question, patted the last back, said the last encouraging word as the little pack of wannabes dissipated, each going his own way knowing he had just been mentored by one of Christian films’ best standard bearers.
– Randall Murphree