I should admit that I have a bias when it comes to Average Joe.

Two weeks ago, when I watched this movie, I mentioned that I was viewing it on twitter.  I included a picture of the film’s poster with my tweet.  A few days later, I was briefly locked out of my account because someone reported the tweet for a copyright violation.  Apparently, they were offended that I had shared the film’s poster.  The image was removed from twitter and my account was subsequently unlocked.

I mean …. seriously, what the Hell?  Not to brag on myself but I’m probably one of the few secular film bloggers out there who is willing to give a serious, non-snarky review to a faith-based film like Average Joe.  Beyond that, me tweeting that I’m watching the film and sharing the film’s poster is basically free advertising for a film that really hasn’t really gotten a whole helluva lot of attention.  I really have to wonder who thought it would be a good idea to alienate a viewer by complaining about someone sharing the film’s poster on social media.

As for the film itself, it’s based on a true story.  Joe (Eric Close) is a former rebel and delinquent who is straightened out by both serving in the military and marrying Denise (Amy Acker).  After Joe joins a church and shares his testimony, he is asked to take over as coach of a struggling high school football team.  Joe leads them to victory but he also causes controversy by publicly praying before and after the games.  The school board orders Joe to pray in the locker room where no one can see him but Joe refuses.  Joe’s case makes its way to the Supreme Court.  Along the way, Denise goes from being annoyed with her husband’s stubbornness to supporting his right to pray.

Del Close and Amy Acker make for a believable and cute couple.  They definitely have enough chemistry that you buy them as a married couple.  Both Close and Acker are also talented enough actors that they can make the movie watchable, even when it gets more than a bit heavy-handed.  That said, the film also features Joe and Denise looking straight at the camera and narrating their story, which leads to several moments of either Close or Acker saying, “Actually, that’s the not the way it happened.  What really happened was….”  It’s a technique that become popular after Adam McKay used it in The Big Short (though I think it’s entirely probable that McKay himself stole it from Michael Winterbottom’s 24-Hour Party People).  The first time it happens, it works because Joe interrupts some over-the-top footage of him trying to lasso a camel in a desert.  It’s exactly the type of scene that is worthy of a “Wait, this didn’t happen!”  But each subsequent time that Joe and Denise break the fourth wall, it feels less like a clever narrative device and more like a gimmick.  There comes a point where you just want both Joe and Denise to get on with it.

Average Joe is …. it’s okay.  I liked some of the acting.  I liked the score by Andrew Morgan Smith.  Narratively, it was never quite as memorable as it probably should have been.  It’s a film that tries hard but doesn’t really stick with you.