Review of War Room (2015) by Mike I — 26 Sep 2015

I saw this movie with my girlfriend. My girlfriend and I are avid fans of Brad Jones of The Cinema Snob website, and he is always reviewing these Christian movies that never seem to make it to New York but apparently make the rounds regularly in the Midwest.

While some may see this movie as offensive, I saw it as somewhat silly and very clunky in its storytelling. I am not the intended audience for this movie by any means. I am not very religious. I do find however that some of these Christian themed movies could do a better job of storytelling if they wanted to reach a wider audience. War Room had that potential but it blew it.

I liked some of the themes in this movie. Prayer can be powerful in terms of focusing your energy, but is it a weapon? Hardly. Yes, we do need to ask for help, but just from Jesus? No. Why not have Tony's friend the EMT actually do more than just talk about helping him save his marriage? Why is the movie quite color blind in its portrayal of people, yet have help come from the stereotypical black church lady?

But beyond all that. . . the acting wasn't just wooden, it was Redwood forest. Elizabeth gave her lines like she was reading the news on NPR. There were 5 endings to this movie. Hell, superficially, the plot resembled The Karate Kid (the Billy Zabka version) including a tournament at the end. *SPOILER* By the way, I think Angelspeed deserved to win.

My point is that I'm glad movies like these are made because there is clearly an audience clamoring for this message. But why not make a quality movie worthy of that message? Like I said, I am not religious but I'd love a Christian movie that tells a good story. This movie was just goofy. I think the Christian Right can do better if they really wanted to.