This action-packed USA documentary was submitted to the 2014 Seattle
International Film Festival. Coyly co-directed by Academy Award Winning
Director Daniel Junge ("Saving Face") and Bryan Storkel ("Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting
Christians"), we are supposed to believe that they don't have an axe to grind, but to me, their bias is readily evident.
Tattooed
tough guys straight from the Mixed Martial Arts cage matches were
portrayed as staunch born-again, main-stream Christians. We listen to
the ways in which several
churches' fight clubs rationalize their faith and
their viewpoints and support the idea of God-fearing men beating
the holy crap out of each other.
We see preachers, MMA
fighters, priests, legislators and congregations debate the issue. Some
are fiercely in favor of church-sponsored MMA bouts, some are equally
opposed. The spouses try to show an upbeat supportive attitude, but we
have to watch children tearfully lose bloody battles for Jesus' sake and
one preacher have his shoulder dislocated by another. Aarghhh! One fellow changed his mind during the course of the filming.
This
might appeal to faith-based audiences or to people who love MMA bouts,
but I was repelled from the very beginning, so there is MY bias! The
preachers seemed sincere enough but their rationale was pretty strained.
At this point, professional MMA cage fighting is legal in 49 states;
New York is the hold out. I'm just glad attendance isn't mandatory!