As promised on Friday I went and saw Fireproof this weekend, and it was actually pretty good.... for a Christian movie. It really was better than I expected but to be honest, I think the script definitely needed a few more passes to make things tighter and some dialogue not as.... dumb. Also, I really think that (although it's really cool that they had people from the sponsoring church in part) the acting really could have been stepped up a notch or two... or three or four.
The plot wasn't anything phenomenal, but it was interesting enough to follow. It was pretty much like a romantic comedy, only without a lot of the comedy. I admit that there were a few scenes that were genuinely funny, but there were also quite a few jokes that fell pretty flat to me. I know that the point of the movie was evangelism, but there were some points in the movie that would have been really great sermon illustrations, but just didn't seem to fit in with the pace of the movie.
In a discussion with someone who I saw the movie with, the problem with using the movie medium for evangelism is a problem mainly because movies are so expensive. Getting a good screenwriter and actors to fill out the film would have made it such a money sink that it just wouldn't have been good stewardship to make the movie (although it could be argued that making the movie in itself isn't the best use - but I won't go there). So, for what the filmmakers had, I think they did a good job in putting together a coherent (albeit predictable) movie.
So, what about the qualifier, you may be asking. Well sadly, I think it still applies here. I think that a much better movie could have been made by a professional movie company that would have evangelized in a subtler way in order to make the film a bit more mass-marketable. I don't think it was a bad decision for them to make the movie in the way that they did, but I am afraid that it will be relegated to receiving most of its ticket sales and video sales from churches and those who have already heard the message that is trying to be preached.
2 comments:
Enjoyed today's blog. I too agree with alot of your points here. This movie was on my radar because Meredith's parents church is renting out a whole theater so that everyone can come and see the movie. Not sure I'm going to see it myself but you never know. Guess I need to let my thoughts percolate before I jump on here and post comments, as I don't really think I had a point. Later
I don't get too excited about these movies. Movie tickets are too expensive to waste on a movie you know is not going to be that great. My mom always thought Devil's Advocate was a good movie to spread the truth. I tend to agree. It's raunchy and has bad language, but last time I checked Satan didn't mind that stuff. So if you want to show both sides of the story, I don't think you can go with "Rated G."
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