“Green and Gold,” the newest film looking to capitalize on the faith and family demographic, is halfway to a winning movie. The film is about undeniably salt of the earth types. Craig T. Nelson plays Buck, who runs a dairy farm that’s failing because he won’t invest in the newest equipment.
Buck is gruff but good-hearted, exactly the kind of archetype Nelson has built his reputation on. His personality consists of liking the local professional football team, the Green Bay Packers, and disliking their rivals, the Chicago Bears. He leaves church early to watch football, but he also fixes their water heater for them, helps his enemies out of a ditch, and talks his neighbor out of killing himself.
Madison Lawler plays his granddaughter Jenny who is seeking greater opportunities in college and music but frequently heads back to the farm to help out.
When the evil banker comes to start foreclosing, he offers a bet on the Packers winning the Super Bowl. If they win, the heroes get a year’s interest-free loan; if they lose, they pay in whole immediately or sign the farm over. Buck refuses because that’s not how they do things, so Jenny goes to the evil banker’s office to ask for just a little grace. And he says, “When you’re a little older, you’ll understand that grace is not how things work.”
Buck tries a variety of ways to raise money, such as selling his tractor, but nothing works. And in desperation he agrees to the bet.
The film effectively captures how an entire town can rise and fall with the fortunes of the local football team. But it does so much less effectively than “Friday Night Lights.” It wants to say something about the nature of God and how He cares for us. But it can never seem to make up its mind about whether God cares if the Packers win, or why God would care more about Packers fans running farms than Bears fans in the city.
But while stumbling around to answer those bigger questions, the movie manages to be slice-of-life beautiful. The score of the film is inspired by Jenny’s music career and consists mostly of acoustic guitar ballads that provide all the atmosphere you could ever ask for. It’s an A+ soundtrack. And the way Buck just moves forward with whatever comes next whether good or bad, certainly shows something worth admiring, even if the film never says anything worth saying.
I never felt invested in the story, but the movie did keep my heart in that warm fluttery place that pays off in the good-hearted climax. I liked the movie, even if there are not a lot of reasons to. And I imagine you’ll like it as well. It’s not for kids, and I imagine it would bore any of them, but I certainly wouldn’t be bothered if they were watching. It’s rated PG. The characters have traditional morals that are respected.
If I watched it with my kids, I’d probably ask them about gambling and how it’s different from trusting the Lord. I’d ask them how the Lord operates and cares for all of us, and then I’d talk about how we build community and be good to others using some of the good examples from Buck and Jenny’s lives.
Two and a half out of five stars. “Green and Gold” opens in theaters nationwide on January 31, 2025.
