Caleb keeps trying, and his father refuses to let him give up. Clearly, Caleb is a little narcissistic, but she's the Ice Queen from the Chronicles of Narnia. She rebuffs them and believes the office gossip that Caleb's probably up to this change of heart to ensure he gets a good settlement in the divorce.
Unfortunately, Catherine is so smitten with Gavin, she doesn't notice Caleb's gestures to reconcile. Caleb commits to the process if only half-heartedly at first. He claims it saved his marriage with Caleb's mother, and now they love each other more than ever. Caleb behaves badly toward his mother, and his father comes to his rescue presenting him with "The Love Dare"-a handwritten book that takes a person on a 40-day journey back into love with their spouse. Both he and Caleb's mother, Cheryl (Phyllis Malcom), are shocked at their son's decision. When Caleb informs his father of their impending divorce, John Holt (Harris Malcom) leaps into action. All too quickly, in my mind however, she leaps to wanting to dissolve their marriage, and starts making goo-goo eyes at this obviously lecherous, though good-looking young doctor at the hospital named, Gavin Keller (Perry Revell). As the plot unfurls, though, it becomes clear that both are far from perfect individuals. He starts to complain that she doesn't respect him, which clearly she doesn't, and probably rightfully so to a degree, but no less than she doesn't seem to deserve his.
This seems like the kind of thing you bring up after breakfast. And, while I'm a staunch supporter of equality in marriage and 100% shared responsibility, and I'm no expert in marriage counseling, the way she talks to him about how he never does anything around the house and leaves all of the chores to her when he's just arriving home from rescuing a couple of kids from a car accident seems a bit over the top to me.
They don't know how to use a shopping list so he'd know what to bring home from the store on his way. They don't know how to use a calendar, so she'd know he schedule. This couple of seven years is perfunctory in every way. There's no food for breakfast, and he asks if she's saved him any cereal, which she hadn't explaining that she didn't know he was coming home. We meet the couple in their kitchen one morning when Caleb comes home from the firehouse just as she's about to leave for work. Caleb's wife, Catherine (Erin Bethea) is the Director of Public Relations at the local hospital where there seems to be an endless need for television interviews of all the amazing doctors on staff who've all won awards for their cancer research recently apparently necessitating her job. Caleb (Kirk Cameron) is the captain of a firehouse of mostly dense firefighters, one of whom is a new cadet just learning the hoses so to speak, and the others are window dressing with the exception of Michael Simmons (Ken Bevel) who serves as Caleb's best friend and confidant. The story, again, is about a couple, married, believe it or not, for seven years, inexplicably without children.
Part of the reason is that the leading actress, no match for seasoned TV vet Kirk Cameron on screen, never seems genuine, either because of her lack of acting chops or her poorly written and conceived character or both. (gulp) I hate saying this because I really don't mean to hurt the co-writers', Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick, feelings, but it might even unintentionally scare people away. In that, if the film is meant to help proselytize the word of the Lord, it's got too many plot problems for that to work. If you're not Christian or consciously avoiding religion for that matter, this film's probably not for you.
Plus there's a website: promoted heavily during the credits to help if the film's not quite enough or not playing in your area.Īs an instructional video the film succeeds kind of like a week at Vacation Bible School.
If you fall into that category, by all means, see this movie you may benefit. Where it's church fundraiser predecessor succeeded this film does not, and ends up coming across more like a Christian After School Special for Grown Ups with manufactured marital troubles. As far as the cinematic experience goes, Fireproof is about as cliché driven as it can be. From the people who brought you Facing the Giantscomes Fireproof, the story of a firefighter's struggle to rebuild his struggling marriage following a handwritten set of steps given him by his father called "The Love Dare"-a 40 day journey of re-discovery.