Fireproof

I had been dying to see this movie for months, since I first saw Kirk Cameron talking about it one afternoon on Dr. Phil. It was interesting to see a movie that was about the rebuilding of a marriage rather than the dissolution of one.

The movie centers around fireman Caleb Holt(played by Cameron), whose marriage is falling apart. He and his wife are practically unable to have a civil conversation, and are on the brink of divorce. This home is all but broken, until Caleb's father sends him a book called "The Love Dare". This is a 40-day challenge to rebuild a marriage, with the expected Christian undertones (Biblical passages, etc). Caleb is resistant to it at first, but as time goes on, he eventually accepts God and fights for his marriage.

(You can read the New York Times' review here)

As a Christian, this movie was particularly interesting. I'd seen Facing the Giants before, and I loved it. So I was excited when I heard that the Kendrick brothers had another movie up their sleeves, this time with a professional actor (even if he's pretty much only known as Mike Seaver to some).

I expected the less-than stellar acting. I expected the blunt religious references; after all, it is a Christian movie. But I was actually surprised to find that the acting was actually pretty decent at some points, and that, while there were obvious religious references, the movie was not as "preachy" as Facing The Giants could be construed to be. FTG is a lot more "in your face" about Jesus and the Gospel, while Fireproof is a bit more subtle on many levels, which makes this movie something that anyone- Christian or otherwise- would be able to relate to.

In the end, Fireproof is about saving your marriage, which is something of a rare thing to see in these days of drive-thru divorces. One of the characters sums it up like this: "When most people say 'for better or for worse', truth is, they really only mean for the better". I definitely reccomend this movie to anyone whose marriage (or just relationship in general) is on the brink. Everyone can benefit from watching this. If you get past the religious undertones and take it for what it is, you'll find that not all Christian movies were created equal.

Official Fireproof Trailer: