Too often, “Christian entertainment” isn’t either Christian or entertaining. The new movie Fireproof (by the same church which made Facing The Giants) is both. It’s by far not perfect – even advocates of this sort of movie don’t give it unqualified endorsements. Christianity Today gave it an overall good, but not fantastic, review:
Thankfully, their newest film, Fireproof, is indeed a step up, though it presents new challenges that the Kendricks’ earlier films never quite had to deal with. The story this time concerns a firefighter named Caleb Holt (Kirk Cameron) whose wife of seven years, Catherine (Erin Bethea), wants a divorce. Caleb is ready to give up on the marriage altogether, but his father, John (Harris Malcom), gives him a book called The Love Dare and challenges him to follow its steps before throwing in the towel. Since Fireproof has been endorsed by a plethora of marriage ministries, you can pretty much guess how things will turn out. But the Kendricks earn their resolution this time; instead of dropping miracles and messages from God on their characters, they keep the story focused on the Holts and driven by the choices that the Holts make. Put simply, it no longer feels like the filmmakers are “cheating.”
It’s not subtle. The dialog is a bit heavy-handed, and the plot is predictable. I can predict the plot of pretty much every movie I see anyway; I’m rarely surprised, so the predictability of Fireproof’s happy ending doesn’t bother me in the least. In fact, these days I don’t even watch movies that lack happy endings. I have real life for unresolved, depressing problems and I watch movies to get a break from those things.
Fireproof is a couple of hours of good, solid entertainment; a clean movie you can watch with Grandma or your teenagers without blushing. The action scenes are pretty well done. I found myself gripping the arm of the seat during the train scene – they’ll save the girl, right? They have to – don’t they? The pranks at the firehouse are amusing, as are the scenes where Caleb and Catherine complain to their friends. I strongly recommend it, but if you want to see it, you’ll have to move fast; it’s not likely to be in theaters for long. If you miss it at the theater, be sure to get the DVD. Aside from the fact that it’s a nice slap in the face to Hollywood when these sorts of films do well, it’s well worth your time and money on it’s own merits.
One interesting note – the theater was packed. And when the film was over, nearly everyone applauded. It’s #4 in the box office, and has made nearly as much money in one week as #3, Lakeview Terrace has made in two – even though it has been released to 839 theaters compared to Lakeview Terrace’s 2,467. Here’s the trailer -
Angel loved it, and provides lots of Kirk Cameron linky goodness.
Added: Fellow Hot Air commenter jgapinoy liked it too.
A movie about a whiny wife who wants to divorce her heroic, non-adulterous husband, until he starts appeasing her? I think I’ll pass.
A movie about a discouraged wife who doesn’t know how to handle her husband’s neglect and porn use, until he commits to being faithful to her in mind as well as body, Drew.
I saw the movie… awesome. It’s time for men and women to realize that pornography is just as destructive as an affair.
Thanks for the link.
Yes, obviously they’re gonna get back together, so in that sense it was predictable, but the bumps & turns getting there were moving, thrilling, or just LOL funny.