Champion (2017)

In the supercharged world of dirt track racing, a single mistake causes the lives of two men to change forever. One must fight for his family, the other must fight to forgive.

Director:

Judd Brannon

Writers:

Missy Reedy (screenplay), Sarah Inabnit (screenplay)

Stars:

Gary Graham, Andrew Cheney, Isaiah Stratton

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gary Graham	...	Jack Reed
Andrew Cheney	...	Sean Weathers
Isaiah Stratton	...	Ray Reed
Robert Amaya	...	Rex Marshall
Cameron Arnett	...	Logan Evans
Faith Renee Kennedy	...	Gracie Weathers
Lindsay Sparks	...	Sam Marshall
Taryn Newborn	...	Social Worker
Kristi Walker	...	Christine Sutton
Portia Cue	...	Annabelle Evans
Katherine Shepler	...	Older Gracie
Richard Holden	...	Owen Roberts
Kathy Dillon	...	Michelle Gardner
Liam Peeples	...	Jeffrey Sutton
Maddox Robinson	...	Aaron Sutton

Storyline

Those are mechanic Rex Marshall's parting words to dirt track racer Sean Weathers before a big race at Rome Motor Speedway in Georgia. Though Sean won the Southern Regional Dirt Track Championship the season before, he's behind in points so far this season. The leader? A young upstart named Ray Reed, who's come from nowhere to lead the pack..

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Plot Keywords:

racing | dirt track racing | grief | restorative justice | gospel | 

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Taglines:

Victory Begins In The Heart

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic material

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 May 2017 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Woodstock, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$108,591, 21 May 2017

Gross USA:

$175,232

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$175,232

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brannon Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The dirt track race at Dixie Speedway between Sean Weathers and Ray Reed was filmed using two local Georgia racers (Jason Croft from Woodstock and TJ Reaid from Acworth, respectively) on June 11, 2015.

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Soundtracks

Your Word, My Life
by John Waller

User Reviews

Family friendly movie about the transformative power of forgiveness

Love is the most powerful, transformational power in the universe. But while love is patient and kind, it also keeps no record of wrongs. That's where forgiveness comes in. Champion (2017) is a powerful story of forgiveness.

One of the movie's main characters, Jack Reed played by Gary Graham, begins with a surface level forgiveness that appears genuine, until it's tested. The story's most impactful scene is when Jack learns what real forgiveness is, and most importantly its source.

I really don't want to give away too much of the plot, but do want to convey that it's a credible story with good acting and production values even though it was the first project by most of its principles. It was filmed in Georgia, near Atlanta.

As a Christ follower, I'm always looking for Christian-themed movies, and I've seen a lot of them over the past 7 years. While Alex and Stephen Kendrick's Sherwood Pictures may be considered a sort of "gold standard" in the faith-based genre (especially in the South), this one is on par with theirs and even the brothers' War Room (2015). But Champion's producer-director Judd Brannon's approach is more subtle.

While many faith films feature characters that are quick to quote scripture, this one closes with a verse from Ephesians as its first and only overt Bible reference. Yes, people are shown to pray and there are characters that openly profess their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and Jack even cries out to God at one point. Also, the Bible is present in many scenes, e.g. being read, without its being the focus.

But the Christian characters act "naturally" - their faith is a part of them, it's who they are - and it's their actions, the way they lead their lives, the things they do and how they treat other people that makes an impact on the unsaved characters in the story, and I hope on the audience of this film.