Touchback

High school football drama is part Friday Night Lights, It’s A Beautiful Life . . .

Touchback
Starring Brian Presley, Kurt Russell, Christine Lahti
118 min, Rated PG-13

On a crisp Ohio night in the fall of 1991, one of the nation’s top high school quarterbacks shatters his knee on a heroic play that brought his hometown the state championship. Fifteen years later, that quarterback, Scott Murphy (Presley), is a struggling farmer and father of two girls, longing for the life he might have had as a pro football player.

After a devastating series of events threatens to rob Murphy of his livelihood, he’s driven to the brink of despair. Going against the advice of his peers, he opted to plant a risky crop in an area where corn is the popular choice. An early frost and failed equipment kill his last shot at harvesting the crop. But in his darkest hour, he’s given the opportunity to go back in time and relive the moment that took away his college scholarship.

With the backing of his coach (Russell) and mother (Lahti), Murphy gets a new perspective on his life as a teenager — and his destiny. And he faces the toughest decision of his life — to avoid the play that crippled him and marry his then cheerleader girlfriend or to go through with the play despite the cost and marry the woman he was destined to be with.

Presley, who was a real-life high school quarterback, says he saw the fingerprints of God all over this project. The actor was struggling in his faith and career — and he was about to lose his home and production company when a friend handed him the script for Touchback, which is a cross between Friday Night Lights and It’s A Wonderful Life.

“God’s going to throw us all kinds of curveballs in life,” he said in a promo video for the film. “But like in sports, it’s not about getting knocked down; the sign of a true champion is how you get back up and face adversity.” God certainly works in mysterious ways … even in Hollywood!

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