Fireproof (the movie!)

Our church hosted a marriage date night tonight. We watched the movie Fireproof & were given an oppurtunity to renew our vows at the end. It was a sweet night, even if my 12 year old sat in there to watch the movie with us. (There was only childcare available to younger kids.)

As far as the movie itself, well.... here's my take on it.

It was ok. I mean, as far as a comparison to secular movie goes, it was awesome. No PG13 (or higher!) stuff to worry about. My 12 year old sat there with us through the whole thing & did just fine and I wasn't concerned about what she was being exposed to.

But as far as the hype this movie got, well.........it was just OK. I'm sure that's not a popular opinion & I may take some heat for that, but it just didn't move me. And this is coming from the girl who cries when I watch commercials, some episodes of kid shows & cartoons, when I read books. Anyone who knows me well knows I am a big sap & am easily touched. This movie just didn't do it for me. And I can't really pinpoint why. I mean, I sob through lots of sweet love stories...but this one didn't do that.

There were funny parts. My dad & 2 of my Brothers-In-Law are firemen, so I can totally see the fire station humor being real, of course...it's always a little more crude IRL. The nurses at the hospital were funny.

There were sweet parts. I did shed 1 tear (seriously...ONE) during the moments at the end when things work out.

There were sad parts. Watching the marriage crumble & their arguments...wow.

I like the idea of the Love Dare book and can certainly see how it would help save a marriage.

I guess what it all boils down to is that I'm not in a place in my life/marriage where any of it really hit home. We've been there in the past on so many of the issues that were part of their bad marriage, but from the very beginning of the movie, I was wearing my marriage counselor hat & thinking "wow, he could've handled that differently..." or "she really needs to watch her words". I guess I've been married long enough, read enough marriage books, and spent so many hours on my knees for my marriage & hubby that I could see where they were going wrong from the get-go. That's not to say that Larry & I have it all together, but honestly we have a REALLY GREAT marriage and are each other's besttttttttttt friend. I would swim across the ocean & fight off sharks with my bare hands to be with him & I know he feels the same way about me. We both work hard to please and take care of each other so the movie didn't hit home for us.

We mostly sat there snuggled up watching the movie & just enjoyed the quiet dark room where we could hold hands & whisper to each other now & then.....but we could've done that at home.

I do think that married couples should see it b/c I can't say that it'll hit everyone in this same way, but seriously.....it didn't do anything for us. It was alright, but nothing phenomenal.

Ok, the flaming arrows can begin now. :)