Faith of Our Fathers (film)

In 1997, meek California postal service worker John Paul George, named after three members of The Beatles and engaged to be married to his fiancée Cynthia in three weeks, discovers a box of war belongings from his father Stephen, who died during the Vietnam War in 1969, in the garage of his recently deceased mother's house. Among its contents is a letter mentioning "Edward J. Adams", Stephen's best friend from Vietnam. Curious, John eventually encounters someone who seemingly recognizes the name. Arriving in Mississippi, he finds that his contact was actually Edward's son, Wayne Adams. An ill-tempered hermit, Wayne initially declines to speak to John, but at nightfall, he lets him inside his house for dinner, revealing that he wanted to know if John really cared.

Later that night, Wayne reveals to John that his father rediscovered his Christian faith through John's father. He invites John to accompany him to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. to see their fathers' names on The Wall and get closure, forcing him to pay to read Edward's many letters and promising him a letter from Edward which mentions Stephen if he comes. In flashbacks, Stephen and Edward's squad leader in the 25th Infantry Division, Sergeant Mansfield, takes them and their fellow squadmates to rescue troops in a downed aircraft behind enemy lines; the two men bond, eventually becoming friends.

On the road, Wayne picks up two hitchhikers, upsetting John. After discovering that the local motel's rooms are filled, they camp out. In the morning, John converses with the female hitchhiker, Annie, who is travelling with her cousin and suggests that they all go out for coffee. However, John is unwilling to abandon a sleeping Wayne, though Annie says that she and her cousin will return with the coffee. After the hitchhikers steal the car, Wayne awakens and criticizes John for the incident. Walking down the highway, they spot an old Volkswagen worth $1200. After obtaining the car, Wayne decides to test it, but drives too rapidly. As a cop eventually pulls them over, Wayne tells John that he has a suspended driver's license and is wanted for a few crimes. Both are arrested and spend the night in jail. John calls Cynthia to help with bail, but she declines, appalled at his and Wayne's situation. Wayne reveals that years ago, he went with his mother Eleanor to Washington D.C., but a drunk driver hit their car at an overpass bridge, causing it to flip over the bridge, which killed her.

In the morning, John reveals that he has enough money left for a bus ticket back home. Cynthia calls John and apologizes for her earlier actions, but John sees Wayne entering a convenience store with a gun and hurries off the bus. Inside the store, Wayne pulls the gun on the elderly attendant, demanding money. John enters and tries to urge Wayne to drop the gun, but a Virginia State Police trooper arrives and Wayne complies. After arresting the pair, the trooper reveals himself to them in his squad car as Mansfield, who uncoincidentally recognizes the two men. At his home, Mansfield shares with John that Stephen's words about the Lord changed his life after his wife died a decade earlier and that before he died, he gave Mansfield his letter to hold if he never returned home. John is moved to tears after reading the letter addressed to him inside Stephen's Bible. Mansfield offers the pair one of his motorcycles to travel to Washington D.C.; before they depart, John asks Mansfield about his father's death. A flashback shows Stephen and Edward approaching the downed aircraft, along with Mansfield and their platoon. Inside, both are ambushed. Before they die, Edward accepts the Lord as grenades are thrown into the aircraft, igniting it in a massive explosion.

Stopping at the overpass bridge, the men find the smashed vehicle from the accident and the letter from Wayne's father underneath a rock, which explains that despite his absence, his son should "go with God". Wayne is surprised and moved that his father actually began reading the Bible before he died. The final scene shows the pair at the Wall, where they find their father's names.

• Kevin Downes as John Paul George
• David A.R. White as Wayne Adams
• Stephen Baldwin as Mansfield
• Candace Cameron Bure as Cynthia
• Rebecca St. James as Annie
• Sean McGowan as Stephen George
• Scott Whyte as Edward "Eddie" Adams
• Ryan Doom as Pvt. Shears

Audiences and critics panned Faith of Our Fathers. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 9% approval rating based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 4/10.[4] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 20 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[5]

• Official website
• Faith of Our Fathers at IMDb
• Faith of Our Fathers at the TCM Movie Database