Face forward - even if not moving forward

I am not a big Kirk Cameron fan. I do remember his days on the 1980's sitcom Growing Pains. It also impresses me that he wears his faith on his sleeve in the image-concious world of Hollywood (as did many others from that same sitcom).

Therefore, there was no big rush for me to preview the movie Fireproof before our church played it as an outreach film yesterday. When it came time for me to run the film in the evening, Cameron's acting in the film actually did impress me. The scenes where he was angry at his on-camera wife (Erin Bethea) were entirely believable. He just blew up (and I know what that's like..). That kind of outburst would reduce many women to tears. But the two scenes that really got me were the apology scene and the firetruck bay scene.

The ego-driven blow-hard fireman (Stephen Dervan) was really funny. The best scenes were “drinking the hot sauce” and “pimping for a date”. The other character I admired was Caleb Holt's father (Harris Malcom). He plays the mentor role to his son as a peer, not as a parent. A lot of parents would do well to emulate that approach to their children in their adult years and roles.

Believe it or not, most of the film was done by volunteers, but the results are impressive in the cinematic quality and the principal acting. It's worth seeing – whether you're married or single.