Forever Strong (2008)

A rugby player is put up in a juvenile detention center. There he plays for the Highland Rugby team and ultimately plays against his father in the National Championships.

Director:

Ryan Little

Writers:

David Pliler, Dony West (song)

Stars:

Sean Faris, Penn Badgley, Gary Cole

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gary Cole	...	Coach Larry Gelwix
Sean Astin	...	Marcus Tate
Neal McDonough	...	Coach Richard Penning
Sean Faris	...	Rick Penning
Julie Warner	...	Natalie Penning
Penn Badgley	...	Lars
Eliot Schwartz	...	Marty (as Eliot Benjamin)
Michael J. Pagan	...	Kurt
Nathan West	...	Quentin
Max Kasch	...	Griggs
Arielle Kebbel	...	Emily
Kepa Kruse	...	Tumo (as John Kepa Kruse)
Junior Salt	...	Peeta
Jeremy Earl	...	Sanchez
Larry Bagby	...	Coach Cal

Storyline

Rick Penning, the 17-year-old star player on his coach/father's rugby team, lands inside the Wasatch County Juvenile Detention Center following his second drunk driving conviction (and where his father leaves him to rot). Mistrust and dislike of the situation makes Rick anything but a model prisoner, but counselors at the center nonetheless hook him up with the Highland Rugby Team, a team renowned for its long string of successive state championships. Its coach, Larry Gelwix, has a surprisingly unexpected philosophy: train boys to be champions in life first, then on the field. Rick doesn't buy into this, which could earn him some time in State Prison if he doesn't turn his life and attitude around by the time he turns 18.

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Plot Keywords:

rugby | coach | montage | juvie | father son relationship | 

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Taglines:

The Greatest Victories are Born in the Heart

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic material involving teen drug and alcohol use, and for some disturbing images

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Bingham" is named after Mark Bingham, a player and founding member of the San Francisco fog. The Bingham Cup tournament is held every two years in his name after his death on 9/11. It is the largest Inclusive rugby tournament in the world

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Goofs

At the beginning of the movie, when Rick angrily charges at a sideline bench, there are people right next to it. When the camera switches to show Rick kicking down the bench, the people have disappeared.

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Quotes

Rick Penning: I don't do ANYTHING to embarrass myself, my team and my family.

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Crazy Credits

"It's not about Rugby, it's about young men. It's not about building a championship team, it's about building championship boys. Boys who will be forever strong." - Larry Gelwix

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Connections

Spin-off Larry Gelwix: No Regrets (2011)

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Soundtracks

Forever Strong
Written by Dony James West (ASCAP) & Jason L. Napier (ASCAP)
Performed by Sink To See
Courtesy of Pigfactory USA LLC

User Reviews

Highland Rugby & the Haka

From Goff on Rugby: "Salt Lake City is a destination point for many young people of Polynesian extraction, especially those of the Mormon faith, and there are many. Despite the fact that many Highland detractors assume anyone with a Pacific-sounding name is in the country temporary, that's not true." "Highland High School has, for years, been designated as an English as a Second Language school, and as such gets many kids whose parents were born overseas. And often the kids were too. Some of them play rugby."

http://rugbyimports.com/web/newsarchives/052405.htm

So, if the rugby club has a considerable percentage of Pacific Islanders, is it more believable for them to be doing the Haka? While the All Blacks have made the Haka famous, it's not exclusive to NZ. Other Pacific islands (Tonga, Samoa)perform a Haka as well.

It's not a requirement to be Maori to be selected as an All Black, but you will be expected to perform the Haka. Highland does perform the Haka, and has done the version(KaMaTe)made famous by the All Blacks. I don't know if it's appropriate for them to do so, but they do, so in that respect the movie is accurate.

Unfortunately, if the story line is mediocre, it may do more harm than good for the image of rugby in the USA. Haka or not, people will just see a lame movie with rugby as the main plot device. Won't know 'til I see it.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Movie Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 September 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Ryan Little Project

Filming Locations:

Provo, Utah, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$719,556

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$719,556

Company Credits

Production Co:

Go Films, Picture Rock Entertainment

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1