Fireproof (2007)

Christian Ethics and the Movies

Reviewed by David A. Thomas, Prof. of Rhetoric,
Emeritus University of Richmond[1]

Marriage and Family

Fireproof (2007) 

            Christian movies don’t get any respect from critics as a rule. Fireproof is no exception. Partly, some critics display an undisguised hostility to “messages” in movies, especially sectarian or evangelical messages that distract from the mindless entertainment values of normal movie going. More often, Christian movies are necessarily low budget, and so cannot match the professional production quality of commercial movies. And, to be blunt, some Christian movies are not very good at the retail level, meaning, their poor writing, acting, directing, editing, and the rest are plain for everyone to see.

Still, there is always a core market for Christian films. The single most successful overtly Christian movie ever, by far, was Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004), which started out with a marketing campaign exclusively focused on church groups, and then went viral to rack up an astounding worldwide box office receipts of well over $600 million. Even so, it received a highly polarized set of critical reviews between those who loved it and those who despised it – to a large extent based on what was regarded as its excessive screen brutality in the scourging scenes. But putting aside The Passion as the exception that proves the rule, costume Biblical movies typically aim at more modest aims, like The Story of the Nativity (2006), made for $35 million and grossing $46 million in return, before cable and DVD sales.

Against this backdrop, we have the modern Christian phenom of Sherwood Pictures and its surprise hit of the season, Fireproof, starring Kirk Cameron. The company is actually Sherwood Baptist Church of Albany, Georgia. Alex Kendrick, the church’s Minister of Media, is the writer/director driving force behind the movie, along with his brother, Stephen Kendrick. The duo have previously made two other Christian movies, Flywheel and Facing the Giants, using amateur casts selected from the church membership. Fireproof, their third feature production, cost an amazing low, low $500,000, and so far has grossed something like $35 million in general theatrical release, presumably for Sherwood Baptist Church, based on word of mouth. Critics typically ignored it. One wrote, Fireproof is a movie for Christian audiences who hate movies.

It is a simple story. Kirk Cameron stars as a local fireman named Caleb Holt, who is having trouble in his marriage. The theme of the movie is, Don’t Leave Your Partner Behind, which is Caleb’s mantra in his training sessions for his firehouse squad. Caleb’s wife, Catherine (Erin Bethea, whose previous acting experience was in Facing the Giants), has all but given up on Caleb because of his general nastiness towards her, and his interest in internet porn. But Caleb’s Dad (Harris Malcolm, ditto) urges him to fight to save his marriage by devoting forty days to “the love test,” a series of proactive steps to rekindle devotion to one’s spouse.

Incidentally, Dad is also a devout Christian who uses the opportunity to witness his faith to his son Caleb in direct terms, the kind of dialog that drives secular movie critics nuts. The story ends happily for the couple, and also spiritually for Caleb’s salvation.

Fireproof is a good movie, production-wise. Getting Kirk Cameron to sign on is a huge plus. He contributes his professional acting chops, along with his widespread name recognition as the star of the Left Behind series. Cameron was a child actor who was himself converted at an early age, and now uses his faith as a guide to his acting career. He is a lay minister. He has strict rules about what he is willing to say or do on screen, contractually, such as, he refuses to kiss anyone but his real wife. In Fireproof’s kissing scene, she stands in for the Catherine character. The bit is shot in near-silhoutte to disguise the trick. And, for this movie, Cameron refused his normal appearance fee.

The editing is good. Scene continuity is smooth and logical, colors match between shots, etc. The dialog generally sounds like real people, with a few awkward spots here and there. The pyrotechnic rescue action sequences are believable.

Kendrick just keeps improving, as do the members of his acting pool in Sherwood Baptist Church. Unless you don’t like the overt evangelizing scenes, nothing is objectionable about Fireproof. This movie has all the qualities anyone should want, in terms of a family-safe movie for church discussion groups. Sherwood Baptist Church has shown the way for other churches with an entrepreneurial bent to take their message to the Cineplex. Surely, Fireproof’s success portends more Sherwood movies in the future.