Is There Space In Your House For A "War Room" ?

War Room

Rated PG

Starring Karen Abercrombie, Priscilla Shirer, T.C. Stallings

Directed by Alex Kendrick

The Story:

Elizabeth (Shirer) and Tony (Stallings) have it all. Or so it seems. Appearances can be deceiving, and their marriage is falling apart. When Elizabeth meets Clara (Abercrombie), Clara shows her how she fought for her husband, instead of with him: through prayer. Elizabeth creates her "War Room" and begins praying for her husband and their family. Her attitude begins to change. Will it be enough to change their relationship, or is it doomed to fail?

Yep, it's a film about prayer, which will turn off a majority of viewers from even wanting to see the film, and that's fine. Not every film is for every person, however the Kendricks have a way of preaching the gospel that is both genuine and it doesn't overwhelm you by beating you over the head with the message.

The saying "preaching to the choir" exists for a reason, though, and for those that believe, this should be a really enjoyable movie.

Overall, whether you believe or not, this shows that if you can change your heart, you can effectively change the hearts of others.

Whether that's Divine Intervention or not, again, it's in the eye of the beholder, but what a wonderful concept to know that you really do have that much power.

The Kendricks continue to grow their ministry through film, and while I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as Courageous, it's still a really good film. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they put out next.

My main complaint is the one running joke throughout the movie about the wife's feet is rather mean-spirited. However, it does show how much Tony's heart will change by the end of the film, so there is a point to it.

Final Grade: B

Oh Yes It's Ladies Night... "Moms' Night Out"

Moms' Night Out (2014)

PG

Starring Sarah Drew, Sean Astin, Patricia Heaton, Trace Adkins, Andrea Logan White, Robert Amaya, Kevin Downes, Alex Kendrick, Abbie Cobb

Directed by Andrew & Jon Erwin

The Story:

Allyson (Drew) has hit the wall. She feels like a terrible mom and if only she could get out for night to recharge her batteries.  Planning a night out with her two best friends (White & Heaton) while the guys (Astin, Amaya & Downes) watch the kids.  What could possibly go wrong?  Just about everything...

From the folks who have been bringing us some fine Christian dramas, they have turned their eyes towards comedy.

How'd they do?

Not bad, not bad at all.

Bringing in their biggest "names" yet, all the characters are given just enough space and room to be individuals instead of cookie cutter background characters.

The action and mayhem snowballs from a reservation gone awry to a lost child, and just about everything in between.

Is it too much?  Maybe...

But as a parent, you should recognize one of those days when one thing goes wrong, how seemingly everything else that could go wrong on that same day is about to happen.

There's several scenes that are downright hilarious, traffic stop, I'm looking at you.

Is there a Christian message tucked in there somewhere?  Of course.  However it isn't one that is delivered over and over (and over) again like a sledgehammer, so this film could be watched by people of just about any faith (or lack thereof) and not bristle too much.

At the end of the day, everyone gets a little frazzled in the world, and there's nothing wrong with that.

It gives you an opportunity to bounce back and recharge, and someday, maybe far, far down the road, you'll look back on your bad days and have a really good laugh about how rough it was.

In the meantime, you can laugh at their bad day instead.

Final Grade: B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I'd watch it again!