Fireproof

Thanks for the review Keri. I heard good things about it, and I also heard it was an all volunteer movie, haven't been able to verify that yet.

It's possible, the guy that wrote it also wrote and produced "Facing the Giants" and that movie was all people from their church who acted in it.

I see what you are saying, Mina.

As for my thoughts on the movie, overall I liked it. I thought the message was very clear and powerful...like Keri said, especially the message of Christ's love and the gospel. I think it's great that people are coming into a relationship with Christ after seeing the movie.

.:KERI:. said:

That's totally not what it's about.

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Right...the plot was somewhat different than I expected, and it wasn't what I would call "typical."

sampa said:

Seeing it this Sunday with my mom, anyone seen it since it came out? I've heard pretty good stuff from others.

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I saw it about 2 weeks ago. And I made a thread about it, too.

The message was not only for married couples, actually it is for everybody.

I liked it very much.

I think Kirk Cameron was okay this time.

God bless!

I think it seems kinda schmaltz-y, personally...

Sampa... you should have said "Um... that was kinda the point."

Quirk... define "Schmaltz-y"?

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*

Atlantians said:

Quirk... define "Schmaltz-y"?

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schmaltz: (figuratively) a work of art that is excessively sentimental, sappy or cheesy.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=schmaltz

I checked this move out close to when it was released. And yah, it was good. Yes, the volunteers were noticeably not real actors and were quite corny (and fake-sounding), but hey, props to them anyway for participating in getting the message across. Kirk's addition to the movie was good, though, since he IS an actor and has total realism with his scenes. I wasn't expecting to cry in this movie, but when he finally broke down in confessing his sinful treatment to his wife, I shed a couple of tears. He has such passion.

So yeah, really cool movie. Too bad its presence hasn't really affected my own parents, though.

die2live said:

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.
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.

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I definitely agree, the ending was expected but how they were able to achieve it was something to think about. Who would think a man would past day 1.

In a way I was waiting for something in the movie about remarrying and it enlightened me alright with Kirk's fireman friend who was, after being born again, looked for his ex-wife, and was sorry for leaving her, but it was too late for she remarried again. That was touching for me. *sniffs*

Sorry I alway cry at movies.

lunalinda said:

I wasn't expecting to cry in this movie, but when he finally broke down in confessing his sinful treatment to his wife, I shed a couple of tears. He has such passion.

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I agree.