Fireproof (Dir: Alex Kendrick)

Earnest and well-meaning, "Fireproof" is, nonetheless, not very good. The film is crippled by tepid direction, amateur theater level acting, and a proselytizing endgame. It is important to note, however, that the film was made entirely by volunteers. This does not improve the quality of the movie, but it perhaps helps us to be more forgiving of its flaws. We don't expect The Mercury Theater when we attend the local church's drama night. It's a religious tract on film and by church drama standards, it's "Citizen Kane."

Fireman Caleb Holt (Kirk Cameron) supervises his fire station in a tough, but fair manner. He has earned his co-workers respect, but feels totally disrespected at home by wife Catherine (Erin Bethea). Their marriage is in trouble as their home life has devolved into daily recriminations and petty squabbles. Catherine has also caught the eye of a doctor (Walter Burnett) and the two appear destined for a fling. Caleb's dad, fearing his son's marriage will soon end, presents him with a handwritten book called "The Love Dare" that challenges Caleb to begin acting kindly and selflessly toward his wife.

Caleb never comes across as very sympathetic and this is both, I believe, a function of the script and a sign of Cameron's limited acting ability. He fully commits to anger and frustration and holds that note until a transformation late in the third act. (This is hardly a spoiler if one is aware of the necessities of the genre.) What's problematic is that both his transformation and the hope of reconciliation rest on his returning to the church. Fair enough given what is obviously the film's goal--winning converts--but that this path is the only way to save a troubled marriage is a bit of cop-out. What hope do folks have who are either in church and struggling in their marriages, or do not attend church and have no intention of doing so? The film implies that acting unselfishly--a key to sustaining marriage--cannot occur unless one is a Christian. That's simply not true and immediately limits the effectiveness of the film, if it is, as I believe it wants to be, a tool to save marriages.

And of course the very fact that the film is a tool first and a drama second hinders it from the starting gate. The drama and characters are always on message and so everything's a little too tidy and the marriage difficulties a little too neat and chaste. The directorial choices, particularly lighting and composition, are also safe and workmanlike, sanitizing every moment. The movie's just too safe to create any needed sense of peril. Surprisingly, though, given the film's limited budget, it's two action scenes, while clearly staged, give the film a pulse and generate the movie's only heat. One stunt, involving a train bearing down on the heroes, looked genuinely dangerous.

Too tidy and on message to move any but the converted.