Courageous (film)
Plot

Nathan Hayes (Ken Bevel) is at a gas station in Albany, Georgia, trying to clean his windshield when his truck is stolen. Hayes runs after the truck, clinging to the side and fighting the thief through the open window. Hayes is then thrown from the truck and it crashes into a tree. The perpetrator escapes, and Hayes is shown in pain and struggling to get to his truck. Bystanders tell him not to worry about the vehicle but he is not concerned about the vehicle at all and opens the back door to reveal his infant son, crying in his car seat, apparently unharmed.
After bystanders call an ambulans, the police also arrive. Adam Mitchell (Alex Kendrick) and his partner and best friend Shane Fuller (Kevin Downes) meet Hayes, discovering he will be a new deputy there, having recently moved from Atlanta. Mitchell and Fuller later have a discussion concerning the actions of Hayes and ask each other if they would do the same thing as he did if they were in his shoes.
As the deputies meet, the sheriff encourages them to spend time with their families, citing research that shows fatherless children are several times more likely to get into trouble in life (five times more likely to commit suicide and abuse drugs), including crime (twenty times more likely to wind up in prison). Among his deputies is former rookie David Thomson (Ben Davies) who has survived his first year and will partner with Hayes. Mitchell adores his nine-year-old daughter, Emily (Lauren Etchells), but is distant from his fifteen-year-old son, Dylan (Rusty Martin), because Mitchell doesn't share Dylan's interest in 5K runs. Hayes never knew his biological father (who had 6 children with three different women) as his father left the family before he was born, instead treating his neighbor who acted as his mentor as his father (even giving him Father's Day cards annually), but would risk his life to save his three children; however, his teenage daughter Jade (Taylor Hutcherson), resents him because he has a strict policy about dating, as he deems her too young for that. Fuller is divorced, as were his parents, and has joint custody of his son. He gets to see him every other weekend and a third of his paycheck goes toward alimony. Thomson is young and single.
As the four deputies meet over the weekend at a steak cookout, they discuss the sheriff's e-mail and fatherhood. Hayes grew up seeing the consequences of having an absent father and wondered where all the good fathers went. We learn that Fuller's father was an usher at church but his heart was not in it as he would step outside for a smoke once the service started. He even warned him not to drink while holding a can of beer. Fuller, while he still loves him, has a hard time respecting him. Thomson's father split with his mother after an affair and Thomson resigns to accepting divorce as a part of marriage. Hayes disagrees as he views divorce as something that couples purposely include as part of their marriage when it doesn't have to be. Mitchell agrees with Hayes and sees that many couples do not put forth the effort to fight for their marriages. Hayes and Mitchell credit their faith in God for keeping their marriage and family intact (Hayes more than Mitchell). Thomson on the other hand gets a little uncomfortable with the mention of God and tries to defuse the tension by saying that not everyone believes in God and that religion is only one way to keep marriages intact but it doesn't work for everyone.
Javier Martinez (Robert Amaya), an immigrant struggling to provide for his family, is walking down an alley asking God what He wants him to do after being laid off when a construction company went over budget and Mitchell calls him over to help with his shed, thinking he is a different Javier that Mitchell's friend Fuller said would be there. After paying him for the job, Mitchell recommends him to a new full-time job, where he is hired. Meanwhile, Derrick Freeman (David Howze), a teenager who Hayes had earlier disapproved of dating Jade, due to his rude behavior, joins a gang involved in drug dealing. The gang leader also happens to be the same individual who tried to steal Hayes' truck at the beginning of the movie.
One tragic day, Emily is killed by a drunk driver, devastating Mitchell and his family and bringing him closer to his son. Following his daughter's death, Mitchell reads a lot about fatherhood in the Bible. He decides he must be a better father and crafts a detailed "Resolution" to honor God in every aspect of his family. Mitchell, Hayes, Fuller, Thomson, and Martinez join him in his resolution at a formal ceremony conducted by Hayes's neighborhood mentor, the man he thinks of as a father. Mitchell rebuilds a relationship with his son by running with him to prepare for the 5K race and receives some relief of his guilt at his daughter's death. He even goes as far as doing his side of the dance with his daughter whom he refused to dance with while she was alive. Hayes mends his relationship with his daughter and presents her with a purity ring that he asks her to wear until she is married. He also visits the grave of his biological father who he had never met and forgives him. Fuller improves his relationship with his son. Thomson reveals to Hayes that he fathered a child in college and deserted the mother after she refused to have an abortion. He lives only 30 minutes away from her but doesn't have the courage to go see them. He feels guilty and Hayes uses the opportunity to witness to him about Christ and shares his testimony. Thomson later writes the mother a letter seeking a relationship with his daughter and encloses some support money. Martinez's factory employer offers him a promotion on the condition that he falsify inventory documents. Martinez refuses, and his boss reveals that the condition was a test of Martinez's integrity, with Martinez being the only one to pass after interviewing 6 previous candidates. The boss promotes Martinez and gives him a raise.
Mitchell discovers that someone has been stealing drugs from police evidence. Mitchell decides he must honor his Resolution and report the corruption. He sets up a sting with help from Hayes leading to Fuller's arrest and imprisonment. Fuller has been stealing drugs to sell on the side and blames his actions on a low salary ($36,000 a year.) Mitchell later breaks the news to Fuller's son and visits Fuller in jail where Fuller takes responsibility for his actions and asks Mitchell to forgive him and be a father figure to his son, which Mitchell agrees to do.
During a minor traffic stop for a blown out taillight, Hayes and Thomson unknowingly confront the armed leader of a gang they have been repeatedly encountering. One of the gang members is Derrick, who stops the gang leader named TJ from shooting Hayes with a shotgun. The incident turns into a roadside gun battle, and TJ attempts to take a young girl hostage to use as collateral. Mitchell and other officers arrive as backup. The girl's father assists Hayes in subduing a suspect, and Mitchell assists in arresting a second suspect. When Deputy Hayes asks, Derrick attributes his reason for being involved with the gang to not having anyone who cares about him.
At a Father's Day church service, the men present the Resolution and Mitchell leads a charge to the fathers in the congregation to be a Godly influence on their families. Mitchell runs in a 5K race with his son and Fuller's son. Hayes reads the Bible in prison with Derrick. Thomson meets his daughter for the first time. The film ends with a quote from Joshua 24:15: "Choose today whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
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