It’s a rare occasion when you work for Catholic media that you have an opportunity to interview a film star.  Yet that is what happened when some 50 Catholic journalists and communications professionals met with Jim Caviezel this past June during the annual Catholic Media Conference.

Caviezel was at the Charlotte, NC conference to talk about his new film, “When the Game Stands Tall,” which is scheduled for wide release Aug. 22.  A large group of conference participants were shown a preview of the film, and then were given a chance to ask questions of Caviezel and the film’s producer David Zelon, who also produced such works as “Soul Surfer.”

Knowing just a little bit about the film a viewer might expect that it would be about winning.  After all, the film told the story about the De La Salle High School football team in Concord, Calif., which had held the record for the longest winning streak with 151 games. 

But to leave it there is to deny the film the full measure of its value.  The winning streak is the backdrop, even the albatross in some sense, that the real-life characters grapple with. The story is really about how the De La Salle coach, Bob Ladouceur, (played by Caviezel) inspired his team and drew from them their best.  It’s about the values and strengths he instilled in them, and how he prepared them for meaningful, responsible lives.

I won’t say much more so as not to spoil the plot of this most worthwhile film. But I will share the answer that I received when I had my chance to ask Caviezel and Zelon a question. With the RE:IMAGE initiative we have in this Diocese, which focuses on supporting and cultivating the making of positive, inspiring films, I asked the two men about what needs to happen in order for more films like theirs to be made.

Zelon and Caviezel agreed – the stories need to surface, the scripts need to be written.  These stories, they say, are often like finding a needle in the haystack.

But Zelon went further in his assessment … he said, “Really, what we need everyone here to do, is to come and see the film on Aug. 22, and bring a million of your friends.”

Yes, he indulged in hyperbole, but his point was not missed.  The film, “When the Game Stands Tall,” is a truly enjoyable, inspiring film – one that every young athlete should see.  It is a film that parents can take their older children to see and feel good about.  It will likely send its audiences walking out feeling good about life.

But if not enough people come out on that first weekend, if the box office counts are skimpy, it makes producing the next values-based film all the more difficult.  It’s just that simple, Zelon said. 

So, I encourage our readers (and a million of their friends) to see the film, not only for the evening of entertainment and inspiration it promises, but for the excellent, morally decent films that have yet to come.