Fireproof

I finally went to watch Fireproof on Sunday night.

Let me start my review by saying I did not like "Facing the Giants" very much at all. I thought the acting was bad and the production was bad. (Yes, I do understand that the actors were not paid and that the movie was made on a $100,000 budget.) More importantly, I thought the overall message of the movie was bad.

I can get past bad acting and poor production, but the prosperity gospel does not fly with me. The message that I walked away from "facing the Giants" with, was that if I become a Christian, I will win two state football championships, have a brand new truck given to me and I'll get my infertile wife pregnant. As simple as that. Get saved, life is peachy. That is the basis of the prosperity gospel and the basis of the movie.

Fireproof did not portray the same message. When the movie first started, I thought the same thing: Bad acting, poor production quality. (Kirk Cameron was good.) However, after about ten minutes, the acting and production quality either got better or the story line was so engaging that I forgot all about everything else. I'll go with the former. The plot to this movie was so good, that I was hooked the entire time.

The prosperity gospel did not seem to be present in the story. It explained real and understandable ways that faith in God can strengthen our marriages. It was true to life in the fact that after the main character came to know Christ, his life did not instantaneously and miraculously take a turn for the better. Rather, he was attacked all the harder with temptation and trials. His marriage did indeed come together and work out, but the road there was rocky and torturous.

I would absolutely recommend this movie to anyone. Get out and see it!