War Room - D-

Quick Hit: A deeply religious movie that is as flawed as its main characters.

Is that blonde woman even in the movie?

Sometimes movies get made for certain demographics. It’s easy to market them, it’s easy to get funding from a specific group, etc. However, that doesn’t necessarily give people the excuse to make bad movies. You can select things that work in a variety of ways for the plot, and the movie can still work.

War Room is not what it sounds like. It is a movie about a family that is on the edge of the precipice. The family is eventually saved by a renewed commitment to the Christian faith, specifically, prayer. Elizabeth and Tony are obviously headed for disaster, and the movie has no problems establishing that fact.

 
​In fact, that is really my problem with War Room. It’s like getting hit with a ham in the head every time they establish a plot point. “I’m having marital problems” “I just don’t pray much anymore” Wham! Wham! Have a little bit of subtlety would you?

The acting is also widely variable. There were some scenes that it was hard to watch (though this may be on the filming technique – more on 

This is his face the whole first half.

that later) and some scenes I thought were very well acted. All of them really sell the drama and the beliefs, just wish they were given better dialogue to work with. I mean really, how many jokes about smelly feet can one movie have?

I understand  the desire to fill the movie with God and prayer. As a young (ish) Christian man, I want people to understand the power of prayer, and the depths you can sink to when you don't have a good praying relationship. But you can get the points of the movie across without pumping it so full that there is almost no content worth anything else. Most movies work best as allegories or as direct adaptations. This movie was so dramatic. “And another thing Devil!” Blah.

At least we get to see some SWEET double dutch.

The movie also has like three places where it could have ended and I probably would have been happier. But instead, it keeps dragging, adding elements here and there. Some of these scenes just don't fit in with the rest of the movie. I don't understand the need to add Tony's job here - besides to fill out a running time.

The filming gave things some really close

scenes. It was obvious they were featuring a small, handheld camera prominently. This can lend some perspective and awareness to scenes when they get too big, but here it just ruined some moments. There were way too many shots of people staring into closets. I totally know that the closet is “The War Room” and The War Room is the title of the movie… but once is enough.

Only reason I am giving this movie a rating higher than an “F” is because of Old Lady Clara. Preach it sister (I am surprised she lives though - seemed like she should have died). She was the best part of the movie. She is the only one who makes the faith believable at times.

They are laughing because you just watched the whole film, and wrote a whole blog post about it, David.

For me, the bible thumping gets a D-.
A quick aside here, if you want a movie (and book series) that can get the idea of faith across without being as pushy as this, check out the Narnia series.

For more on this movie, check out IMDB.