Adam Abel Movies

A talented but troubled high-school rugby star gets a second shot at redemption after being sentenced to serve time in a Salt Lake City boys' home and landing a coveted spot on the famed Highland High School rugby team in this inspirational sports drama from director Ryan Little (Saints and Soldiers, Everything You Want). Rick Penning (Sean Faris ) was the star player on his Arizona rugby team until his life took a turn for the worse. Now, after a fateful brush with the law, Rick finds himself out of the spotlight and forced to ponder the consequences of his actions in a Salt Lake City juvenile detention center. As fate would have it, however, Salt Lake's famed Highland High rugby team could use a player like Rick. With a little help from coach Larry Gelwix (Gary Cole), Rick may even be able to lead the Highland High team to the national championships. When Rick discovers that the team they'll be competing against is none other than his old team from Arizona, which is coached by his father, Richard Penning (Neal McDonough), the deciding game takes on a newfound sense of gravity in the eyes of the ambitious young athlete. Arielle Kebbel and Sean Astin co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A handful of fighting men must defy the odds to save their own lives and thousands of others in this drama set during World War II. In late 1944, a band of nearly a hundred American soldiers are making their way through a wooded region of Belgium when they are ambushed by German forces in a battle that became known as "the Malmady Massacre." A small group of American soldiers are able to take cover -- hard-boiled Sgt. Gunderson (Peter Holden), a grunt from Louisiana called Kendrick (Lawrence Bagby), a cynical medical officer from Brooklyn by the name of Gould (Alex Niver), and Cpl. Greer (Corbin Allred), known to his pals as "Deacon." Deacon is a devout Mormon who doesn't drink or smoke, carries his Bible with him at all times, and spent time in Germany as a missionary before the war, giving him an empathy with the enemy that sometimes puts him at odds with the other men. Deacon is also a master sharpshooter who has been having a crisis of conscience after nearly killing an innocent Belgian family while on patrol. Surrounded by Germans and with seemingly no means of escape, Gunderson and the men encounter Oberon Winley (Kirby Heybourne), a British intelligence officer trapped by the massacre. Winley has top secret information that could change the course of the war if it gets to Allied commanders in time, so Gunderson, Deacon, Kendrick, and Gould must find a way to get themselves and Winley away from Malmady before its too late. Inspired by a true story, Saints and Soldiers was the first feature film from Ryan Little, a Utah-based filmmaker who previously made a number of short subjects relating to issues of faith in the Church of Latter Day Saints. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi