“Hey. Look Rick, you have a choice here. You can get up and finish this game, or you stay down, and you end up like me.”
– Coach Richard Penning (Forever Strong)
I feel like this might be one of the most underrated movies made in the 21st century. There are so many valuable lessons to be gained that I don’t even know where to begin. Forever Strong is loosely based on reality. The main coach existed and the overall plot is derived from real instances, but that is only the surface.
Forever Strong is about a sport that is not well understood or appreciated in American culture, but it is relevant to anyone that may or may not have grown up on easy street. Just because you came from means does not mean that you are well off in life. Life doesn’t know easy. Life hits like a brick. All it takes is one mistake and your values will be put to the ultimate test.
I first saw Forever Strong back in 2008 and I was moved, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. Rewatching it after some more time and life experience helped me to realize the values it instilled. The things that people tend to forget that matter. Things like truth, honor, integrity, accountability, and the weight of every decision against the consequences.
Most importantly, Forever Strong reminds me that you can have all of those things while also trying to remember to have a good time while making friends along the way. People and the greatest and most valuable thing in life and they are the ones that make things worth the most in the end. It is about the quality of our relationships and how the guide us that dictate how we value ourselves.
Journeyman's Legacy 