I saw it and I thought it was really good. It's low budget and yes, it's almost an entirely volunteer cast. But I don't think it made it a bad movie and I don't think it was ever advertised as a blockbuster Hollywood movie. There's a quote from one of the producers on wikipedia (so it may or may not be accurate) that basically said they weren't under any illusions that this was going to be a big hit. That was never their goal. I don't really get why it's been criticized (not here, just in general) for having attributes of a low budget film when that's exactly what it is and it's never pretended to be anything else.
The acting and writing were a little wooden in some places. Not really bad, just a little stiff. However, there were a couple scenes that were really intense. The two main characters, Kirk Cameron and Erin Bethea, had some of the most realistic tears and crying scenes that I've ever seen. And there's a lot of comic relief in the film as well. Some corny humor, some melodramatic lines, some stiff acting, but overall a good movie, even not considering it's budgetary limitations.
And nothing was really predictable except the end. Of course you knew they were going to save their marriage. The trailers and advertisements were rather clear o that. Honestly, there aren't many movies where you don't know the end. But as far as the plot, the sequence of events, the turning points, I didn't think those were that predictable at all. Most stories, movies or books, that I have heard that have this sort of theme (starts with couple having problems, ends with couple resolving problems) actually do it differently. Most of them that I have seen end up with the main characters "rediscovering their love" in some form or another. In Fireproof, it was more like they recreated their love through hard work and committment (who woulda thunk?). There was a very poignant parallel between their relationship and what they had to do to sustain it and our relationship with God and what he has to do to sustain that. It's not all lovey-dovey feelings and butterflies. It's not a matter of making sure you are head-over-heels for your spouse every minute of every day. It's a matter of choosing to love and remaining committed even in the absence of such feelings. I've never really seen that portrayed in a movie before.
And for the record, I liked Kirk Cameron in the Left Behind movies. *runs and hides for fear of being pelted with rotten bananas*
