Game Time: Tackling the Past

All across North America, football fields are thundering with the sound of cleats as teams take to the grass for a new sports season. In the midst of training camps and endurance drills, Walmart and P&G’s Family Movie Night releases their newest production, Game Time: Tackling the Past on September 3, 2011 at 8/7c on NBC.

Ryan McPartlin stars as NFL superstar Jake Walker whose impressive stats have the tight end on pace for a Hall of Fame induction. Then during the pre-season workouts, Jake is dealt a blow while trying to recover from recent knee surgery. But if Jake has learned anything on the gridiron, it is how to play through the pain. And he intends to prove he deserves the starting position.

At the same time, Jake suffers from another wound that can’t be healed with medical intervention—a rift between himself and the rest of the members of his family. For 15 years, Jake has avoided his hometown of Riverton, North Carolina, content that his new life as a celebrated sports figure will meet all his needs. However after his father Frank (Beau Bridges) suffers a massive heart attack, Jake’s brother Dean (Josh Braaten) begs him to come home.

When Jake arrives at the hospital, the reunion with his sibling and mother (Catherine Hicks) is a cool one. Unfortunately the tight end’s plan to make a perfunctory appearance before heading back to training camp is scuttled when his agent calls to say his contract has been canceled. Without an excuse to escape, Jakes must face the events of the past that haunt his family relationships and find a way to forgive himself and others for their previous mistakes.

With relatively minor amounts of violence (some on-field sports action and tense domestic moments), the movie offers entertainment that will fit most parents’ guidelines. With different groups learning to work together as a family and a team, Game Time: Tackling the Past stresses that individual success is largely dependent on the strength and support of the people around you.