Unbelievable! The Untold Musical Success Story of One Family in ‘Unsung Hero’ Revealed!

Creating a film memoir can be a challenging feat. It involves a fusion of collaborative film-making and individual authorship. Without introspection, it might veer into vague and baffling grounds. This is the context where the new motion picture “Unsung Hero,” billed as a “For King & Country Film,” finds its place.

For those unfamiliar with the Grammy-winning Christian pop duo For King & Country, composed of brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone, “Unsung Hero” serves as an introduction to their familial roots and their journey to musical success. The movie is a biographical drama centered on the Smallbone family, a large family from Australia who relocated to Nashville in the early 1990s, driven by the patriarch David’s aspiration to break into the music industry.

Joel Smallbone co-wrote and co-directed “Unsung Hero” with Richard L. Ramsey, and he also plays the role of his own father, who ultimately managed the music careers of For King & Country and Joel’s sister Rebecca St. James. Their siblings participate in the family’s entertainment business in roles such as managers, lighting directors, and documentarians, and they all make appearances in the movie. The strong bond and collaboration within the Smallbone family is a recurring theme in the film, and it’s fitting that Joel decided to narrate his family’s story in such a personal manner.

In essence, “Unsung Hero” can be seen as an upscale extension of the home videos that are recurrently featured in the film. It’s not just a musical biopic or a family drama – it’s a representation of a family saga as narrated and personified by the family members themselves. While it’s a valid endeavor, it’s crucial to consider this context when evaluating this work as a cultural artifact.

Joel Smallbone impresses as an actor, even though it’s somewhat odd that he’s depicting his own father (he has likened the experience to a “therapy session”). Joel also appears in the film as a child (portrayed by Diesel La Torraca), while Daisy Betts plays Helen, the Smallbone matriarch and Joel’s mother. Helen, rightly the unsung hero of the story, is the unyielding force that holds the family together as David makes a final attempt to succeed in the Nashville music scene. Betts gives a compelling performance, her character unwavering in her resolve, keeping the family’s spirit alive as David’s dreams gradually fade.

The charming Australian family arrives in the United States without any furnishings for their rented house, and they take up residence in piles of clothing while striving to get back on their feet, with assistance from a couple from their church (played by Lucas Black and Candace Cameron Bure). They take on cleaning and landscaping jobs, use coupons, and accept generously offered help, albeit reluctantly on David’s part.

As David grapples with his faltering dreams, his daughter Rebecca (played by Kirrilee Berger) is just beginning to explore her own musical ambitions. But she can’t pursue them until her father overcomes his deep-seated disappointment at being shunned by the industry. It takes him a while to comprehend the advice given to him by his own father, James (portrayed by Terry O’Quinn), back in Australia, that his family isn’t hindering his ambitions. Instead, they are his path.

“Unsung Hero” follows a predictable narrative of struggles and redemption, but it deviates from the traditional music biopic – it doesn’t begin with a record deal, it concludes with one. The emphasis is on their trials leading up to that record deal, which is evidently what matters to the film’s creator, Joel Smallbone. It’s not about the success, the Grammys, or the large-scale concerts, but the manner in which they persevered, scraped by, and dared to dream, all thanks to their mother, who never let David’s struggles stifle her children’s imaginations.

It’s a modest tale, with the potential to inspire through its simple message of persistence. However, as an artistic creation, the film seems somewhat constrained in its scope, likely because the filmmaker is too close to the subject matter. Smallbone is a competent actor, but as a filmmaker, along with Ramsey, his capabilities seem restricted. Their visual style is bland at best, and the storytelling lacks the introspection that could enrich this project. As it stands, “Unsung Hero” feels more like band merchandise than a poignant family portrait.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.