The film was directed by Alex Kendrick, who co-wrote its screenplay with his brother Stephen Kendrick. Kendrick also stars in the film, along with Ken Bevel, Kevin Downes, and former running-back Tony Stallings. About half of the cast and crew were volunteers from Sherwood Baptist Church, while the remainder were brought on through invitation-only auditions.

The film was produced with a budget of $2 million, but on its opening weekend it grossed $2 million in pre-sales alone and grossed $9.1 million total for the weekend. The film opened to mixed reviews from critics, but a rare A+ CinemaScore rating from filmgoers.

Plot ::
As the police force of Albany, Georgia, attempts to stop drug smuggling in the city, the sheriff urges his deputies to spend time with their families based on statistics that fatherless children are several times more likely than those with fathers to turn to lives of crime. Among his deputies are Adam Mitchell (Alex Kendrick), Nathan Hayes (Ken Bevel), Shane Fuller (Kevin Downes), and rookie David Thomson (Ben Davies). Mitchell adores his young daughter but is distanced from his teenage son. Hayes never knew his biological father but would risk his life to save his children; however, his teenage daughter Jade (Taylor Hutcherson), resents him because of the strict rules that he has set for her dating life. Fuller is divorced, as were his parents before him, and must share joint custody of his son. The group also befriends Javier Martinez (Robert Amaya), an immigrant struggling to provide for his family, and Mitchell arranges a job for him.

One day, Mitchell's daughter is killed by a drunk driver, devastating Mitchell and his family. After extensive research into the Bible over the next six weeks, Mitchell creates an elaborate "Resolution" to honor God in every aspect of his family; Mitchell, Hayes, Fuller, Thomson, and Martinez take the vow in a formal ceremony by Hayes's adoptive father. Mitchell rebuilds a relationship with his son and attains catharsis by slowly dancing at a site where he had previously refused to dance with his daughter. Hayes mends his relationship with his daughter and presents her with a purity ring that she is to wear until marriage; he also visits the grave of his biological father. Fuller improves his relationship with his son. Thomson, who is revealed to have fathered a child in college and deserted the child after the mother's refusal to have an abortion, contacts the mother and asks to have a relationship with his daughter. Meanwhile, Martinez's employer offers him a promotion on the condition that he reports false information regarding incoming crates. After Martinez refuses to be dishonest, his boss reveals that the request was a test of Martinez's integrity. Martinez is promoted and his financial problems are resolved.

Mitchell and Hayes discover that Fuller has been stealing drugs from the evidence room at the police station to sell on the street. Mitchell is forced to report the corruption, leading to Fuller's arrest and separating Fuller from his son. Mitchell later visits Fuller in jail, where Fuller takes responsibility for his actions and begs Mitchell to act as a father figure to his son.

Hayes and Thomson unknowingly confront the leader of the drug ring they have been eradicating, resulting in a gun battle. As the gang attempts to take a young girl hostage, Mitchell and other officers arrive as additional support. As the girl's father rescues her, Mitchell, Hayes, and Thomson subdue the gang members. One of the gang members is Derrick Freeman (David Howze), a teenager who Hayes had earlier prohibited from dating his daughter; Derrick attributes his decisions to his lack of a family.

At a Father's Day church service, the men present the resolution and Mitchell urges the fathers in the congregation to influence their families for God. Mitchell is shown running in a 5K race with his son and Fuller's son. Hayes is shown reading the Bible with an imprisoned Derrick. Thomson is shown meeting his daughter for the first time. The film ends with a portion of Joshua 24:15: "Choose today who you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Filming of Courageous began on April 26, 2010 and concluded on June 25, 2010. The majority of the film was shot in Albany and Dougherty County, Georgia area. Some scenes were shot in the Dougherty County Jail. More than 170 media outlets, such as Inside Edition, visited the set. The Duggar family from TLC's 19 Kids and Counting were extras during a father-son 5K race. Jim Bob Duggar and seven of his ten sons joined hundreds of other fathers and sons in filming the scene. Their involvement in the film was shown on 19 Kids and Counting in "Duggars go Hollywood". The Duggar daughters acted as extras in a funeral scene at Sherwood Baptist Church that involved several police officers in uniform.

In order to enhance the quality of the film, the production crew is using a new camera technology, "Red One", by the Red Digital Cinema Camera Company. Kendrick estimated the production budget would exceed $1 million — double that of Fireproof. The final budget has been reported at $2 million.

Rating ::
In December 2010, the Motion Picture Association of America rated the film PG-13 for "some violence and drug content". That rating was surrendered a few days later, but was later reinstated. Courageous is the first film by Sherwood Pictures to receive a PG-13 rating.

Promotion ::
The contemporary Christian band Casting Crowns released a song titled "Courageous" to promote the film with a video featuring scenes from it.

Tony Dungy, a Super Bowl-winning football coach, mentioned the film in an article he wrote about fatherhood for USA Today. He said, "As men, we could all take a lesson from [the fathers in Courageous] and ask ourselves, 'What can I do today to be a more involved dad?

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