Here Comes the Boom

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Here Comes the Boom (2012)

Rated PG

Directed by Frank Coraci          Production Company Columbia Pictures

Starring Kevin James, Henry Winkler, Salma Hayek, Bas Rutten, Mark DellaGrotte

 A high school biology teacher starts doing low-level mixed arts to raise money to raise his school’s budget, which is threatening his friend’s job.

Opening Thoughts

So back in 2012 I was learning karate from my friend, Josiah Armstrong, who had recently received his black belt and opened his own Uechi Ryu karate school, the School of Warrior Arts, where I eventually received my brown belt in Uechi Ryu. That summer I went to a library festival and in a raffle won six weeks of free MMA classes at a local gym, and was ecstatic. It was a fantastic class, right up until the night we were practicing throws and I went down extra hard and messed up my knee super bad, which pretty much ended my karate career. While leaving class one night, I noticed a poster the instructor had placed in the window, a poster of a guy with a black eye. The guy was Kevin James, and the movie was Here Comes the Boom. I went to see it a few weeks later with some class friends and thoroughly enjoyed myself, and almost dying from laughter. Hugely hilarious and sweetly inspiring, I’ve often described this movie as “Mr. Holland’s Opus meets Warrior.” This movie has been a regular in my comedy rotation for a while, and didn’t realize just how much it had affected me until I was discussing it on the Men at the Movies podcast a while back. Read on to see what God showed me in Here Comes the Boom!

Spoilers For Here Comes the Boom here!

Scott Voss is a high school biology teacher who has lost his zest for life. He’s often late for his own classes, and tries to weasel out of as much responsibility as he can. One of his only friends is the music teacher, Marty Streb, who has just found out his wife is pregnant and his job is on the line due to budget cuts. Scott vows to try and raise money for the school’s budget to save Marty’s job, but finds little support except for the school nurse, Bella. He starts teaching a citizenship class to make some quick cash, where he meets a Dutch gym coach named Niko. Niko introduces him to mixed martial arts, and Scott decides to try and make money doing low-level cage fighting.

Scott gradually gains skill and raises his rank, learning better fighting technique from real-life fighter and coach Mark DellaGrotte. He woos Bella as he goes to her seeking medical attention for his various fight injuries. A random win gains him the attention of the fighting world, his students, and his principal, who condemns his actions as embarrassing and desperate, but Scott refuses to quit. Scott’s life is improving as his confidence in fighting grows, he is more attentive to his students and invested in his classes. When Scott is offered a chance at the Ultimate Fighting Championship in Las Vegas, he jumps at the opportunity, knowing that even if he loses, he will make enough money to balance the school’s budget. However, the night before the fight, Bella calls and tells him that the vice-principal has embezzled all the money he contributed, and they have failed. Scott decides to try and win the fight, and Bella and Scott’s entire class show up in Vegas to serenade him as he fights. Scott takes some hard hits, and seems about to give up, when Marty gives him an impassioned speech about how he’s inspired them all with his efforts. Scott is able to rally himself to win the fight, receiving cheers from his students and a kiss from Bella.

So What Did God Show Me?

-I love the first scene when Scott is visiting Marty’s music class. St. Irenaeus famously said, “The glory of God is man fully alive,” and standing before his students, Marty is swept up in the joy of the music, fully alive for everyone to see. Music is Marty’s passion, and it is so evident in his teaching. He is reaching out to students individually, telling them they are amazing, pointing out when correction is needed, encouraging them with quotes like, “Without music, life would be a mistake.” This stands in stark contrast to Scott’s own biology class where he has lost his passion and just basically ignores his students, but even Scott is drawn to Marty’s enthusiasm, because he is infectious.

Finding our passion and pursuing it is key to our creative relationship with God. And once you have found your passion, you become more enabled to help others pursue theirs, even if they have a different passion than you. Ever since reading Allen Arnold’s book The Story of With, which is about learning to partner with God in our creativity, I’ve been ardent about helping others pursue their passions, whether it’s sports, business, or like me, writing. And encouragement is so key, because we are ALL going to have days when, like Scott, we let life overwhelm us to the point where we just don’t care. That’s when we need to encourage each other and remind each other of who we are, and what God has gifted us to do. Marty, by his very actions, is reminding Scott of what he loved about teaching…inspiring his students, so they in turn can inspire others.

-In contrast to Marty, Scott is apathetic in his efforts as a teacher. He shows up late, brushes off his students’ questions, and tries to get by with the least amount of effort possible. He basically doesn’t go out of his way for anyone, even Bella, the school nurse he’s interested in. It wasn’t always that way, the principal makes a comment on how Scott was once Teacher of the Year, and Scott himself talks about how excited he used to be, decorating his classroom and even standing on his desk to get his students’ attention. He used to care.

I don’t think Scott’s a bad person or even a bad teacher, but I do think that it can be very easy to allow life to enshroud us in indifference. Sometimes all it can take is one rejection or one negative comment at a weak point in our day to send us down that road, and it all spirals from there. We get tired, and the pushback from the world feels too strong, and it’s easy to give up and say “Why bother? I’m not making a difference anyway.” That is exactly what the enemy would have us believe, and we must stand against the assault! It’s like our relationship with Jesus, it’s not all happy fuzzy feelings and “oh isn’t life great all the time.” Being a Christian is hard. CS Lewis knew this when he said, “I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.” Our relationship with Jesus, like being in any relationship, takes work. You have to set aside time to spend with him in his word, to talk with him, listen to him, seek his guidance, and just enjoy his company. The enemy knows when we have a healthy relationship with Christ and are pursuing our passions together with him, that everything else, including encouraging others in their passions, flows outward from it. And he does not want that at all.

-I thought it was interesting that Scott starts off doing MMA fighting with the express purpose of losing fights. He doesn’t have the training or the skills to win fights, and by losing fights, he will still make money. But, it isn’t until Scott starts learning and incorporating fighting offensively that he starts to make real progress, and gain confidence in himself. I thought that was an intriguing parallel for our Christian lives. We can go along in our Christian lives, just doing the bare minimum. Go to church on Sunday, live a “good” life. Sure, the enemy is going to throw stuff at us, but that’s what he does right? But we can’t grow into the mature Christians God desires us to be unless we hit opposition and learn to come against the attacks of the enemy offensively.

-Scott’s progress in his MMA fighting is starting to give him confidence. He’s remembering that he’s not just doing this to save Marty’s job, but to inspire every student at his school. His lesson on cells draws a fascinating parallel to his own life. “A cell that is not in motion is not a productive member of the system. It assumes all the other cells are going to pick up the slack, but the other cells imitate the slack cell until the whole organism begins to die.” Scott was that cell! An unproductive member of the decaying school system. Perhaps his slacking was causing other teachers and faculty to slack off as well. But there is hope, because “all that decays can be restored!” “The cells hit a rhythm and the whole system is working together. Even if the whole system is close to dead, if all the cells work together, the entire system is healed.” Scott, Marty, Bella, Niko, they all start working together and “hit a rhythm”, and their hard work heals not only themselves, but the whole school.

-Scott recognized his brother Eric’s gifts in cooking, his love for making and serving food, and encouraged him to follow his dreams. He was fine as a painter but was made for something more! And didn’t that work so perfectly with Malia’s father? When Mr. De La Cruz’s restaurant lost its chef, he was forced to cook in the kitchen, and was in turn forced to make Malia quit the music program she so dearly loved and excelled at because he needed her help at work. Scott’s recognition of both his brother’s gifts and Malia’s father’s need married perfectly.

Every single one of us was gifted with a passion for something. Scott tells Eric, “You’ve gotta go after your dreams or nothing’s gonna change. Find your passion and let it guide you.” Whatever your passion is, once you find it, take it and run with it! Most of us languish in jobs that just “pay our bills” and there’s nothing wrong with that, but why merely exist when you have the opportunity to thrive and grow? I encourage you to chase those dreams that God placed in your heart before you were born. He created you to partner with him to pursue the most exciting dreams imaginable. Don’t be lulled into being satisfied with mediocrity…you were made for more!

-“Music takes us where words cannot.” This theme is revisited when Malia uses music to help Niko memorize facts for his citizenship class. I love the way that God understands us, and is personal. He understands the inner workings of our minds and hearts, and will use wildly creative ways to connect with us and help us know him better. God will speak to us through music, or art, or nature, or books, or…movies 😉 Then we in turn can share with others what he shows us, and encourage them to open their eyes just a little bit more to how he’s working in the world and in our lives.

-As Scott’s participation in fighting increases, so does the pressure against him. Because of course it does. The enemy doesn’t want to see us succeed or have victory of any kind, especially victories that increase our confidence, take back ground, and influence others in a positive way. Scott is told he is embarrassing himself and the school, that he is a poor role model for the students, and that he is likely to get himself killed if he keeps it up. When Bella questions if Scott should continue to pursue fighting, he responds, “Everyone’s quit on these kids, even me,” admitting for the first time his shortcomings and apathy as a teacher. But he’s recognized what’s been holding him back, and he’s put it behind him and is moving forward. We need to do the same. What is holding you back in your life? Fear? Finances? Whatever it is, it isn’t meant to be tied to your core identity as a son or daughter of God. I encourage you to identify your stumbling blocks, because once you do, they are more easily recognized and avoided. Then with the help of God we can advance into all he desires for us in our lives.

-In partnering with Mark, Scott’s added another valuable asset to his personal fight: prayer. Even though he’s a complete badass as a coach and teacher, Mark is also a humble man, a man of faith. He not only teaches Scott how to up his game, he reminds him that God is with him and there for him, just as Mark himself pledges to “have his back.” Marty also touches on faith when he mentions the Neil Diamond song, “Holly Holy” and how it got him through a “very difficult time.” Both of these men display faith as an ordinary and integral part of their lives, and so it is perfectly natural that they all gather to pray before Scott’s final fight in Las Vegas.

-Scott’s in the cage in Vegas, and it’s not looking good. He’s just received news that all the money he’s raised for the school music program has been stolen, and all his efforts, all the time spent in training and fighting, and every injury he’s sustained seems to all have been for nothing. His only hope is to fight this final fight to win, and take home $50,000. But he’s currently being beaten to a pulp by an opponent known as “The Executioner.” In despair, he apologizes to Marty for failing him. Marty, who at the start of the fight had embraced Scott, saying “No matter what happens, I’m proud of you,” now responds with glorious vehemence.

Scott: “I’m sorry, buddy. I don’t I’m going to be able to do this.”

Marty: “You’ve already done it! To hell with my job. Look up there. Look at those kids!”

Scott: “I gotta be honest, it’s a little blurry right now.”

Marty: “Then let me tell you what you would see. You would see a bunch of our students witnessing complete resolve in the face of an unbearable obstacle. They are invested. Scott, they are inspired. That’s what we’re supposed to do as teachers, right? Inspire? You can quit right now and everything we worked for will have been accomplished. Last night on the phone Molly said you thought I was your hero? You’re mine!”

When Scott is down, and feeling like a failure, Marty offers him the ultimate encouragement: the reminder of what he is fighting for. And in those moments, it’s not about winning, it’s about getting back up when we get knocked down and feel like we can’t get back up again. Because the reason why we fight  is greater than even the desire and need to win. In Scott’s case, he’s not fighting only for himself…he’s fighting for those who believe in him. Those kinds of people don’t care if we win or not, but love us for who we are. We are no less a hero to them if we “fail” than if we win, and these people represent the greatest love and affection: that of God’s. God loves us if we win, or if we lose. He doesn’t think less of us if we fail, and he doesn’t think greater of us when we win. He rejoices in us as we are, all the time. But the Bible says in Psalm 34:18 that God is close to the broken hearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit, and Marty is showing God’s pure, simple love to Scott in that moment, which is able to rally his spirit to claim ultimate victory.

Closing Thoughts

Have you ever had someone take a stand and fight for you? Come through when you were in a jam or being attacked and you needed them? How did it make you feel, to have someone willing to do that? I know for myself there have been so many times in the past when I wasn’t defended or fought for, so when someone does it now it means everything to me. It doesn’t even have to be a big deal, just someone sending me a simple text or message to let me know I’m not fighting alone is priceless. It reminds me that I’m worth it, that I have value and am precious and have much to offer the world. And so do you.

In the movie The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Merry and Eowyn are preparing to go on what is basically a suicide mission. Merry knows that Eowyn is only going along because she feels she has nothing left in the world, so she may as well go out in a blaze of glory. He takes the time to gently remind her: “My lady, you are fair, and brave, and have much to live for, and many who love you.” He wasn’t admonishing Eowyn’s desire to fight for justice, but rather to remind her that she didn’t need to throw her life away in the endeavor…that there were those who would love her whether she fought or not, and her life had value whether she fought or not. God used this quote to speak powerfully to my heart, so much so that I had a friend make it into a bracelet for me that I wear almost every day. So those days when I’m down on the mat and life is so blurry I can’t see past my tears, I hold on to that promise, the promise that I’m not a failure just because I’ve taken some hits, and I’m not a loser just because I don’t happen to be victorious in the moment. And neither are you.

One last thing…the movie The Prince of Egypt has a memorable song that says “There can be miracles when you believe.” Yes! But to add a bit more to it, there can also be miracles when you are believed in.

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I’d love to hear your thoughts! Drop your favorite part of the movie or your spiritual triumphs in the comments below!

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