With the exception of maybe Courageous, the films from the Kendrick brothers have been just as amateurish and pandering as the rest of the faith-based offerings. Receiving the same kind of repeated criticism for middling production values, stale dramatic beats, and the messages themselves. However, I've always felt that the duo have really pushed themselves with each successive release to try new things and make higher quality entertainment, which is the kind of thing these movies really need right now. I can't say the same about Overcomer though, as it feels like their first really phoned in effort to date. While it's obvious no one onscreen is really trying with their performances, the real problem with the movie is the script. There are some effectively emotional moments, but no real depth. That's because the Kendrick's never went the extra mile to flesh out any of the characters. Not even the titular "overcomer" herself played by Aryn Wright-Thompson, who is oddly sidelined for the first half of the movie and never actually explored even when her problems do finally take center stage despite this supposedly being her story. Instead they just pulled a bunch of the oldest tricks from the book on how to get the audience all sappy without having to put forth any real effort. It works, but is totally cheap and kind of insulting when you consider how intentionally lazy it feels. If I had to bet, I would say the Kendrick's decided to not give 100% to this one because they realized the hardcore evangelicals that have been keeping this genre afloat for years now without even a hint of constructive criticism were going to support it no matter what. Which highlights one of the biggest problems with Christian filmmaking. Why are the people behind these movies ever going to try and fix the flaws that now serve as an expected part of these experiences when they're going to be met with blind devotion no matter what? Call me crazy, but I think God deserves better from our onscreen attempts at worship so it's high time we the audience demanded improvement. Even Overcomer's religious element itself is a step back from their earlier works. Where films like Courageous and War Room offered real world applications of faith to help with things in everyday life like marriage and parenting, this is a straight up Sunday school lesson on salvation. Don't really see how that's going to help those watching this as they are either already converted, or are going to be too angry with the mediocrity the Kendrick's served up here to pay attention to it. There is one thing they got right though, and that's the running. Cross country is the kind of sport that's hard to carry a movie on, and you can see that here. However, when the final race arrives it's just as big and powerful as any football or basketball match you'd see at the end of some other sports flick. As a runner myself, I can tell you that they did a wonderful job at capturing the mentality and strategy needed to compete for long distances like that. Something that alone made this a movie I genuinely enjoyed, despite what a disingenuous cash grab it is overall.