War Room (2015)

That was an excellent one.

ridiculous rating

The acting in this movie is really good.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Reading the reviews, all I see is 1s and 10s. My word, is there no such thing as true objectivity anymore?I've been following the Kendrick brothers films from the very beginning. Their earliest works are admittedly cheesy bad, but an extremely limited budget could be to blame for that. Watching this film, I felt it was quite an improvement and it is good to see that with each new release, they have attempted to up the production value a little more. Trust me when I say, the acting is WAY better than the earlier projects, although art direction, continuity and other issues still can be improved. While no Hollywood blockbuster, the film has the same kind of quality as a made-for-TV Hallmark film. A little syrupy at times, but overall enjoyable.In regards to the message, I find it laughable when the haters jump on and complain that religious producers should not make movies that bash their religion over your head. That's the whole point. It's their art. Art is designed to communicate the message of the creator. If you don't like the message, don't watch the art. No one's bashing anything. Those who watch the film, do so electively. Nor did I ever get the sense, as many of the critics have suggested, that the main character, a wife, should just stay in an abusive relationship and do nothing and prayer would magically make all things better. That message is not preached in this film. The film's objective was not to focus on the external stuff we do to improve our lives, it was designed to focus on the spiritual efforts. Just because it focused on one, doesn't automatically mean the other doesn't exist. And the movie made it really clear that one doesn't pray for things to magically get better, it prays that we would get a better sense of the understanding and heart of God, and through that, OUR own actions actually DO change. And it's the changing of our actions, brought about through prayer, that can often change the external. Yes, there were cheesy moments. Yes, there were typical feel good moments. But that's what the target audience wants and is looking for. If that's not your cup of tea, that doesn't mean it makes a bad movie. The story moved, and that is what is important, even if the story seemed predictable, and at certain moments, seemed like certain plot twists were added last minute. The movie is less about the plot than it is about the message, and that does become painfully obvious at times. The message was thick, but going in, one should know that this is by design, and should be expected. While the message was heavy, I never felt like the film was preachy. And for that, I feel they did a really good job. I could nitpick about other things, such as art direction (better lighting, camera angles, variance in pacing...), but I think I will end the review here. Acting: 8, Story: 6, Art Direction: 5, Production value: 6, Entertainment value: well, I guess that depends on your world view, apparently. I'd give it an 8.

This movie inspired me in so many ways. It helped my marriage a lot. Stephen Kendrick never fail to amaze me! I am so ready for the next one! Thank you so much!

War Room portrays an ideal situation where the hand of God is at real work with people of obedience. It delivers a riveting story that lets Christian viewers leave the theater with misty eyes. It simply narrates the family's struggles and resolutions to become a real happy family amid parenting, career and marriage crisis. Any Christian audience who is expectant and is serious in looking out for new things to learn will not be disappointed. There are various practical things that one can learn from the simple real-life examples that seem to be spontaneously intertwined.The film delivers a clear message about the importance of prayer in a Christian's battle in the spiritual realm, and though the film primarily tried to focus on prayer as its main theme, it somehow depicted ordinary circumstances in a Christian's life where one can pick lessons to apply or improve in his own life.Except for a few plot holes where some scenes seem too quick to occur, the film undeniably reveals a great improvement in the motion picture production of Christian films that portray strong Christian faith and values. War Room may reasonably appear unappealing and lackluster to the secular audience, but the Kendrick brothers did way greater than many famous secular films.

In its favor, "War Room" looks bright, shiny, and slick. Some money was spent on the production, and everything looks good. (Including the cast). It's intermittently amusing and tries to present what the creators consider to be an uplifting, inspiring message.Against? Well, unless you take this STRICTLY as a parable (and I hope you do), it advocates using prayer as a weapon to save your marriage. And, by extension, every other major problem in your life. (Spoiler alert: this is what the Catholic Church told my mom to try to save her first marriage...guess how well THAT turned out!) An intriguing and controversial idea...but the Hallmark Channel or Lifetime Movie Network would have rejected this screenplay and its characters as too shallow and one-dimensional to hold our interest for more than 30 minutes (although the husband's best friend has some good comic timing and delivery). It definitely won't (and shouldn't) convert anyone to this school of thought if they have two critical brain cells to scrape against one another. (People raised in this tradition are another matter.) Our heroine tries to save her marriage by listening to a busybody and clearing out a closet to dedicate to praying to God to save her marriage. (Upside: the montage where she tries to get comfortable and settled down actually has some wit). And so, at the critical moment when her husband is about to cheat on her, hundreds of miles away, he gets an upset stomach.Ummm, yeah.The movie goes like that. The cast is relentlessly one-note in their performances. I suspect that most of them are capable of more, and everyone certainly is photogenic..but the director and the screenplay won't let them be more, and it makes for a bad case of over-earnest preaching. OK, I'm obviously not the audience this is intended for. And the movie tries to be about something, and it doesn't suck the way an incompetent "B" movie would. So...5 out of 10, mostly on the strength of the paramedic buddy's performance, and the closet "settling down" montage.