Dad spends a (family) night in the Mancave: Field of Vision

Normally dad spends a night in the mancave by himself watching typical guy movies that the estrogen set find boring or juvenile.   However, on this occasion we were asked to preview Field of Vision.  Field of Vision is the latest entry into Family Movie Night on NBC.  It airs June 11 at 8:00 EST and is sponsored by Wal-Mart and P&G.

Field of Vision is the story of a new high school student in town (Corey Walker, played by Joseph Adler) who’s just moved in with his foster family.  Corey’s mother died when he was younger and he never knew his dad.  He’s an underachiever who only excels when people don’t think he can or present things as a challenge.

As with any stereotypical high school, football is king and the Sinclair Tigers are having their best season ever; just a couple more games and they make it to the state finals.  The team’s captain is Tyler McFarland, played by Tony Oller, who has to make some tough choices along the way.  Corey also plays a mean game of football, but he’s getting bullied by some key members of the team.  As captain, Tyler needs to do the right thing and turn the bullies into the coach, but that would kick them off the team.  Does he sacrifice the fate of the team in order to do the right thing?

Tyler’s younger sister, Lucy (Alyssa Jordan Shafer) is an avid reader and was given a mysterious video camera from the local used book store.  The video camera occasionally comes on and shows her snippets of horses and a farm, kind of like an alternate window to the past or future.  As the movie progresses, Lucy shares the camera with Tyler, which allows him to learn something; as well as a special surprise for Corey.

Field of Vision is very good family entertainment that was better than I thought it would be.  The plot has some genuine Karate Kid type moments where you wanted the bad buys to really get hurt.    Bullying is a touchy subject and in the movie Corey gets physically bullied and has his stuff thrown away.   My biggest fault with the movie was they the school was too quick to forgive the bullies and let them back into school.

As evident by the fact that I analyzed the punishment of the bullies, the movie was strong enough to evoke an emotion from me, which is rare for television movies.     It’s Family Movie Night, but Field of Vision was good enough to hold a Dad’s attention for just under two hours.  It was filmed in Georgia, the bungalow homes and fall foliage speak very well for the area and make the working family characters seem more realistic.

If you have children aged 7 and up they’ll really like the movie.  Boys will enjoy the sci fi aspects of the video camera that can view into the future and the numerous scenes of football.  Girls will like the horse scenes, Lucy’s relationship with her friends, the poppy music and the big brother dynamic.

Family Movie Night with Field of Vision premiers June 11 on NBC at 8PM ET/7PM CT.   It’s good, simple family entertainment that you’ll enjoy more than you think you will.

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Dad Central Consulting on behalf of P&G and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate