Fireproof

I enjoyed the movie. It hits on many core issues in a marriage, whether you are spiritual or not. Individuals who are not believers will not like it and should stay home if they are not receptive. Just as I do not attend science fiction films because I do not like that genre.

Acting was much better than Facing the Giants. Excellent use of humor. With regard to all-white cast as referred by another summary on this site, I am not sure if that person actually saw the movie given the following facts:

The first word spoken in the movie is by a black person. The wife has two black friends who she she sees quite often. The first person who brings up God to Caleb is his Lt., a black man. There is one other black person at the station who has several lines.

I would hope that summaries be written by people who actually see the movie.

Hollywood is great at letting us participate in the victories of those who conquer long odds, whether it's sports movies in which the underdog wins the championship or even movies about unlikely romantic pairings (geek meets beauty) that end happily in, say, a wedding. But we see few movies about the joy we feel in conquering the mundane - like in making a marriage work after both sides have lost the motivation to do so.

This is a movie that shows us how hard it is to revive a near-dead marriage, and why it matters so much. Yes, there is a religious context to the movie. A partner in a healthy marriage, we are shown, struggles to emulate the selfless love and service of Jesus by loving and serving his or her spouse, as Jesus would. But the religious aspects of the movie ought not keep away those who are religion-averse. Selfless love and service as the keys to a joyful marriage are not exclusive to any religion.

A great movie for married couples - very thought provoking.

Making a movie that tackles real life marriage problems head on is challenging, and not always easy to watch. Horror, violence, spoofs, fantasy, love stories, biographies offer easy escapes. Fireproof exposes the isolation that can occur between 2 people who started out loving each other, but over time disconnect, become self-absorbed and fall into a pattern of hurting each other. The relational pain finds some comic relief, and there is a job-related diversion. But help comes in the form of a 40 day dare to love. While you may not agree with the faith-based approach, there is no doubt that unconditional love is transforming. I was deeply moved... enough to take the dare myself.

I just got back from seeing this movie opening night. Of the 300 seats, 100 of them were presold and we were told to get there early. I was excited to hear that so many people were supporting this movie on its opening weekend. It's message will hit close to home with so many people. With the high divorce rate these days, I agree that all people should view this movie. I'm not married myself, but it touched me so much because I saw in it the relationship my parent's have had for years. And while it focuses on the husband changing his ways in order to win back his wife, it also touches on wives changing their ways to win back their husbands. There may be many stereotypes shown in this movie, but that comes with movies trying to touch the world. Without stereotypes, we might not understand it so well.

Overall ratings: Plot - 10, Cinematography - 9, Acting - 6 (due to using only one professional actor, kudos to the church members for holding their own)

I almost quit on this movie 20 minutes into it. The script was riddled with trite dialogue and the performances seemed a little stiff. I had a huge problem with the train scene where something significant seemed to happen near the end but was never resolved (and apparently completely forgotten about for the rest of the movie), which was quite bizarre. But as the film progressed and reached its climax, there were actually some very powerful and moving moments, performed very impressively by both Kirk Cameron and Erin Bethea. This movie kind of reminded me of "Freedom Writers" where overall it was so-so yet contained some very poignant, profound, and memorable scenes.

I am a Christian and I admired the fact that the makers of "Fireproof" were not shy of bringing forth the Gospel message and how Jesus Christ should be the focal point of a healthy marriage. I couldn't help but think what I would have thought about this movie if I had seen it before I received Christ into my life. Back then, I think I can honestly say that I may very well have turned it off after those first 20 minutes. But if I hadn't, it could very well have helped to change my life. And thinking about it, I bet there are some people out there whose life DID change after watching this, and to that I say hallelujah! :-)