Fireproof

FIREPROOF is several things, but at its core, it is a tract. An unapologetic plea to the audience to accept Jesus as their personal savior. There is nothing subtle about it here. Not the impassioned speech from the lead character's father, not the wooden cross that hangs over a spot in the field nearby, nothing. Anyone who intends to watch this movie should know that, and be forewarned.

Do I have a problem with that? No. I believe filmmakers have the right to epouse their points of view through their art. I happen to concur with the spiritual convictions of those responsible for this film, believe as they do. But in terms of my judging the quality of the movie, it would've no more mattered if the writers were Scientologists. Propaganda is propaganda. Again, no problem with that specific point. FIREPROOF, however, does nothing to halt the widely held (and accurate) opinion that Christian films are second rate twaddle.

That's being a bit harsh, but this film, while better than expected, was still rife with low grade acting, mostly ham fisted direction, OK production values, and a Made-For-TV air about it. At times, this film was like a Hallmark Channel flick.

The story: fire chief Caleb Holt (Kirk Cameron) spends his days running headlong into burning houses and generally saving lives. He is well liked and respected. His married life, eh, pretty bad. His wife, Catherine (Erin Bethea), is a medical recruiter, a 9-5er who resents that Caleb, with his 24 hrs on/48 hrs off schedule, doesn't help out around the house more. She's also displeased that he's hoarding thousands in savings for a boat, rather than using some of it for needed home repairs. Understandly, she's also quite dismayed that her husband is addicted to Internet porn. She nags a lot.

Caleb is shown to be an insensitive jerk at every turn. I know there are people like this, but perhaps the writers (Alex & Stephen Kendrick) could've made him a little more complex. Catherine, too. They're both bitter, sour people after 7 years of a listless marriage. I didn't much like either of them, honestly.

Divorce seems imminent, but Caleb's father intervenes, offering a family book called "The Love Dare". With it comes a 40 day challenge, each day proposing Caleb do something selfless for his bride. "It saved your mother and I's marriage," dad confesses. If you've ever attended church, or perused a Christian bookstore, you know how popular these sorts of things are. Seven day, fourteen day, thirty day fasts. Always some specific amount of time to do something. Read the Bible in a year.

The love dare is Caleb's only hope, or so he thinks. The true only hope is the gift of faith he will receive halfway through this test. At first, he rejects all that religious stuff. He thinks Jesus is a crutch. He comes around eventually, and he will certainly need his newfound faith, as Catherine responds with suspicion and anger rather than a melted heart as Caleb sends her flowers and finally does the dishes.

There was at least one scene that I found unintentionally funny and ludicrous, though I understood the intentions behind it. I mentioned Internet porn. We have a scene where Caleb is lazily surfing the Net, gazing at some of the boats for which he's saving up. It is around Day 25 or something of the love dare. All of a sudden, a pop-up for some lurid sex site catches Caleb's eye. He struggles. He gets up. Sits back down. The scene keeps cutting back to that pop-up, featuring a volumptious bimbo and the words "Wanna See?". He eventually grabs the computer and monitor and proceeds to smash the living you-know-what out of it with a baseball bat. Into the garbage it goes. OK, yes, I get it. Sometimes when you struggle with an addiction, you have to get all symbolic and literally destroy something. But presented here, it just seems ridiculous. All I could think of was, What if Catherine needs to use the computer? When she discovers what he did, and the bouquet of roses and card ("I love you more" it reads) on the desk where the computer was, she responds with a divorce summons.

But this was a necessary step for Caleb in his spiritual maturity; I got that. FIREPROOF is an effective said tract, and also a heartfelt love story. I have to admit that by the end I bought into the emotional catharisis. Even non-believers with a heart may find something to be moved by. However, this family-oriented film also fills its time with silly firehouse antics with Caleb's co-workers and some cliched melodramatic (though believable) subplots involving Catherine's ill mother and her crush on a doctor that gets more questionable by the day.

I just kept thinking how I would respond to this movie if I was not a Christian. I've never been one to react well to hard sell sales tactics. Not from genuine salespeople trying to part you from your money, and not from preachers selling Jesus as if He was a commodity from the Ron Popeil storehouse. The Kendricks brothers have strong convictions about their faith and the institution of marriage, and amen to that, so do I. But the problem I have with their film and the subgenres of Christian films and (to a large extent) Christian pop is how in-your-face they are. I say, let Christian artists show the beauty of faith through their work by creating realistic characters and scenarios that show the beauty of belief. Watch AMAZING GRACE for such an example.

It goes back to that phrase, "good intentions and morals does not a good film make." I applaud the message, but have no love for the presentation, in all its slick glory. It continues to baffle me as well that many "religious" people judge if a film is good or bad only by the criteria of whether it has any nipples or swears in it. That's another discussion, though.

As well, many Christian films are always so contrived, so (at best) mediocre. OMEGA CODE, anyone? FIREPROOF is very competently produced, and director Alex actually creates some suspense during the action sequences, but again, nothing here approaches the cinematic. As a stuffy film critic, I can be all over this movie like a cheap suit. And again, I have no problem with its Message. Others of different poles use this medium to get their message across. Ken Loach has spent a career making patently leftist dramas, but they are so well made and artful that you don't have to agree to appreach the passion, the craft, and the message. The day we get a director like Scorsese (heck, even Rick Linklater), a writer like William Goldman, and a marketing team that understands Less is More to make a Christian film, maybe all those lost souls out there may stop laughing and start kneelin'.