Joe vs. the Legal Volcano

 “Joe vs. the Legal Volcano"

A Review of Average Joe by Olszyk

Distribution Service: Theatrical 

MPAA Rating, PG-13

USCCB Rating, Not rated at the time of this review

Reel Rating, Three Reels              

Joe Kennedy’s saga is a classic David and Goliath tale – if David didn’t marry Bathsheba until they were in their 40s and Goliath was a bunch of USDE bureaucrats. Joe was your average small town football coach of no particular importance until, like the prophet Daniel, he got in trouble just for praying. His story highlights the ridiculous nature of our current culture pathological avoidance of any religious faith but ends in one of the greatest victories for human freedom in the 21st century. 

Joe (Eric Close) had a rough start. Passed from one foster family to another, he never had a permeant home and was constantly getting into trouble. He finally joined the Marines, which helped channel his rebellious energy. He also had bad luck in his love life. He met his future love Denise (Amy Acker) when they were both pre-teens but ended up having a disastrous marriage to her cousin. They only reconnected later in life after he divorced and she escaped an abusive relationship. Unsure what to do with his time, Joe is offered the head coaching position of a high school football team despite his lack of credentials. Around the same time, he and his wife had a profound conversion experience which led him to say a short prayer of thanks on the field by himself after every game. Eventually, students and coaches ask to join him, and it becomes a local tradition. Despite a warm reception from the community, local politicians and education administrators view this practice with despite and give him an ultimatum to quit the practice or be fired. Instead, he chooses to sue the school district, even going all the way to the Supreme Court. 

Average Joe has an odd plot line. It bills itself as a movie within a movie. In the first scene, Joe imagines a fantastical war scene from his time in the Marines before the audience realizes he is being interviewed with his wife in preparation for a major Hollywood biopic (implied to be this film itself). He then insists they “go back to the beginning.” The film then an explicit connection between his rebellious nature as a child to his rebellion against the legal legions of darkness. He was a fighter then and a fighter now. This approach, while occasionally confusing, works well because it highlights Joe’s spiritual struggle. This is not a self-righteous man who is resisting the powers that be for his own glory. He is honest about his many faults and sins. This is instead about God’s glory and the freedom of Americans to practice religion without hinderance.

Prior to this film, I was vaguely aware of Joe’s case and thought of it as just another example of the government attempting to suppress religious expression. However, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District had huge cultural implications beyond what most people understand by negating Lemon v. Kurtzman in favor of new standards for evaluating public expressions of faith. From 1971 to 2022, any judge, on his own personal interpretation, could rule any public expression of faith unconstitutional. Thus, it was purely subjective whether people could practice their religion openly. Now, the burden is on the side; The state must prove whether a practice forced people to adopt a religious view. This made clear what was glaringly obvious to everyone already. Coach Kennedy never forced anyone to do this. Coach Kennedy never treated anyone differently for participating. No one involved even complained about the practice but instead found it commendable. He, and all Americans, have a right to pray publicly. 

Average Joe is strongest when it demonstrates the difficult realities of prophetic work. The external persecution of the government and media is obvious, but less subtle is the emotional and psychological toil this case takes on Joe and his family. In a great ironic twist, Denise was working for the school district when Joe sued them. This means that they effectively cannot discuss the case with one another and her coworkers treat her like the enemy. This puts a huge strain not just on their relationship but faith in God. Although both Christians, they disagree on whether this is the path the Lord has for them. Joe is maligned by many in his community and can only get work as a literal ditch digger. These obstacles could have caused Joe to falter but instead his faith only grows.

Joe’s story is a great victory, but it highlights a difficult truth. One of the chief reasons our country is so schizophrenic today is that we have a nation founded on strong Biblical principles but largely lead by secularists who resist righteousness at every turn, attacking even the smallest acts that break their narrative. Our Constitution and that precious Democracy everyone claims to cherish cannot survive a divorce this intense. This is not an argument for any specific economic idea, social policy, or political party but a simple recognition that our nation, just like an individual human, must put God first if she is to succeed. If we, like Joe’s saint namesake, have faith in the Lord, we will prosper, even beyond anything we’ve seen prior.