WAR ROOM     3.0***

 

 

      This is a movie by Christian writers, producers and directors who pull no punches in sharing their faith and beliefs. Christians will love the movie, and hopefully non-Christians will consider the message.

 

While many Christian films sacrifice good writing and acting for the sake of having a spiritually authentic movie, "War Room" makes no such sacrifice. I recommend this movie to all, keeping in mind that faiths outside of Christianity and more so those with no faith are not likely to get the same message from this movie as will Christian audiences The. film touches on the concept of prayer in a very effective and hard-hitting way and the power of God/Christ in a person's life.. Themes such as adultery,  marital distress  and parenting are also addressed as difficult challenges the main characters  must face. 

 

Tony, a pharmaceutical salesman and his realtor wife Elizabeth along with their son have a great life materially, but their marriage is in serious trouble. Then Elizabeth meets Miss Clara, an older Christian lady who teaches the power of prayer. The acting starts off wooden but gets better, and there are some genuinely good moments, such as when Elizabeth exorcises Satan from her home (it's way better than it sounds) or when Tony helps the antagonistic V.P. of his Company who made things difficult for Tony. .There are also some nice touches of humor. When Tony describes his wife's prayer closet to his Christian gym buddy, the buddy replies "Dude, this is serious. When did you ever hear of a woman giving up closet space?"

The writing, acting, and directing are competent and above average for this genre but would probably be slightly below average for the film industry in general. Not enough character development nor enough explanation for  why the family h gotten into trouble in the first place. Nonetheless, It is a heart-warming, inspirational movie, and a good reminder to Christians that prayer is important, powerful, and something we could all stand to do a lot more often.

Clark