Fireproof is a movie that exceeded expectations at the box office opening weekend. With a production budget of only about a half million dollars it managed to clear upwards of $6.8 million according to Box Office Mojo. That’s exceptional by any standards -  a 1,360% return. Even if you figure that the marketing budgets for most films generally are about equal to the production budget, getting nearly 7 times your money back in three days is good for business.

Cameron & Bethea in Fireproof

To put it into perspective, the highest grossing opening weekend of all time to date is The Dark Knight (the latest installment in the Batman franchise. If The Dark Knight had the same kind of return, it would have made about $2.5 billion (yes with a b) on opening weekend instead of the record $158 million of its $185 million production budget.

Then figure that most successful movies get released in upwards of 4 times as many theaters as Fireproof was this weekend. The Dark Knight was over 5 times as many.

However you slice it Fireproof is a financial success.

Gorgeous and I couldn’t get to the theater to see it on opening weekend but did venture out for a date night last night. We stopped at the food court in the mall for some Sbarro’s and went to see the flick.

Much Better Production Quality

Usually I hesitate to go see movies in the theater that I know are overtly faith based. Usually that label means the production quality is horrid. Well unless the film has $30 million or so of Mel Gibson’s money behind it, that is.

I think of movies like Left Behind and I cringe. Obviously that film had a compelling storyline based on a wildly popular novel. Unfortunately the low production quality of films like that only helps to marginalize Christians as out of touch.

The good news is that Fireproof is raising the bar. Considerably. It’s still not at Hollywood standards, mind you, but we’re moving in the right direction for sure.

Realistic Portrayal of Difficult Subjects

Fireproof deals with the challenges of marriage and addiction in a way that’s believable. The movie especially nails marriage challenges. Marriage is complicated and the film covers a wide range of emotions from raging anger to broken crying.

And they do it without going over the top and getting hammy.

There is one sequence that’s especially well done that cuts back and forth between the lead characters that demonstrates the differences between men and women especially accurately and throws in a touch of humor too.

Addiction is never an easy subject to address. And it’s not unusual for Christian media to sterilize the issues and paint simplistic solutions. In contrast, Fireproof handles the challenge of addiction in an honest and believable way.

Some Great New Performances

As an aspiring actor I was glad to see some good performances from the cast largely made up of newcomers. Most folks know Kirk Cameron and he’s some professional challenges since he became an outspoken Christian. Fortunately in this film Cameron delivers across a wide range of emotions.

Ken Bevel Delivers in Fireproof

He nails some of the argument scenes he plays opposite newcomer Erin Bethea at the beginning of the film. He’s intense without going over the top. Cameron’s performance is the glue that holds this film together. But it is far from the only note worthy one.

I was most impressed with Ken Bevel’s debut performance. He does an outstanding job as Cameron’s confidant and best friend. It turns out that Bevel is an active duty Marine Corps Captain and used his accumulated leave to get the time off for shooting the film. Ooh-Rah! I suspect he will be able to move into acting should he choose to leave the Corps.

Stephen Dervan provides the comic relief for the film. He has one scene that made Gorgeous and I both totally crack up. It was another fine performance from the new cast.

Target Audience

The only real disappointment I found, and it is a small one, is that the film came across as a little preachy to both Gorgeous and I. I’m not sure what the fine folks at Sherwood Pictures intended. But I don’t think Fireproof will resonate with a general audience.

This morning Gorgeous made the comment that the movie felt a little like a Sunday School lesson. Some might disagree with me but I think they could have toned down the preaching a bit.

Ultimately most Christians will probably find Fireproof to be decent entertainment. Gorgeous and I really enjoyed it.

I’m just not sure how many non-Christians will find the film appealing.

All in all, Fireproof is a fine piece of storytelling that raises the bar for Christian productions across the board. It was well worth the cost of admission. I’m looking forward to more entertainment along these lines.

Gorgeous and I watched Second Hand Lions last night.

If you haven’t seen it, it is a fun movie, rather silly through out. Kind of a boy meets grumpy old men story. The pair of crusty old guys are played by Michael Caine and Robert Duval. The Duval character cracked me up with his over-the-top grouchiness. There were several points that I had to pause the movie because I was laughing too loud for Gorgeous to hear what was going on.

But there was also a fair amount of wisdom given out. For example at one point the Duval character tells the boy

Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and I want you to remember this, that love… true love never dies. You remember that, boy. You remember that. Doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. You see, a man should believe in those things, because those are the things worth believing in.

I’m still noodling over that one.

Should you choose to believe something simply because it is worth believing in, and not sweat whether it’s true or not?

Many folks would say that those of us who follow Jesus are doing exactly that. Of course those of us who do follow Jesus believe that we have actually found the truth and believe in it.

I have this powerful desire to be “right.” And when I encounter someone who thinks differently than I do, my natural instinct is to “prove” that I am “right” and they are “wrong.”

But is that really the important thing? To be right?

I’m not so sure that it is anymore.

When I was poking around this morning I noticed that both Robert Duval and Michael Cain had spent some time in military service. I didn’t realize that they had both been in uniform.

I did some more poking around and found that all of the following actors had spent some time in uniform:

• Michael Cain
• Robert Duval
• Gene Hackman
• Eddie Albert
• Lee Marvin
• Sean Connery
• Richard Burton
• Robert Mitchum
• James Stewart

Jimmy Stewart actually takes the cake when it comes to military service.

He was drafted in WWII but was initially refused due to a weight restriction. He finally convinced the Draft Board to accept him and enlisted in March of 1941. The Army didn’t really want to send famous stars to the front and Stewart had been making movies since 1935. So the Army kept him in the states even after he successfully finished flight school. They posted Stewart to New Mexico as a flight instructor for B-17’s.

But Stewart was not content to be an instructor. He managed to get a transfer to an operational unit and entered combat operations flying bomber missions over Europe in December 1943. He was awarded several medals for actions in combat and by the end of the war Stewart was promoted to Colonel. He was one of the few Americans to rise from Private to Colonel in four years, a rather impressive accomplishment.

Jimmy Stewart was the highest ranking Hollywood actor in the military of all time (after Ronald Regan, of course).

His first movie after the war is my personal favorite of his: It’s a Wonderful Life. Talk about a film that addresses personal beliefs! It’s a great reminder that each of our lives affects far more people than we ever realize.

Who doesn’t remember the moment when George Baily discovers Zuzu’s petals? Or how the town’s folk rallied around him to help him out of his jam? Good stuff for sure.

We could all stand to see more movies like that.

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Gorgeous is out of town. She and the other girls from our small group went down to Fernandina Beach, FL to overnight at a friend’s place. Our friends were out of town so Gorgeous got permission to have a slumber party at their place. It’s a little weird, I know, but our friends tend to be a trusting lot.

Well us guys got talking about the girl’s road trip and decided we should do something manly while they were gone. So we decided congregate at the biggest TV in the group, order pizzas and watch a manly flick. So after we gorged ourselves on Domino’s finest, extra meat, we had the “I don’t know, what do you want to watch” conversation. We eventually narrowed the field to Master and Commander and Serenity. We finally settled on Serenity because more of us had already seen the other flick. It didn’t much matter to me. I brought both finalists.

There’s just something about watching a good manly movie on a big screen with the surround sound really LOUD! The girls just don’t quite seem to appreciate the finer points of actually feeling the explosions rumble in your chest cavity as the sonic pressure squeezes your head until you try to go a little cross-eyed in an attempt to relieve the pressure. Oh, yeah!

I have to remind Gorgeous from time to time of the guy’s perspective: Things that go whoosh and boom are cool. Speed is good. Faster is better. She just shakes her head. Sometimes I get the feeling that her take on that whole thing is that I should just grow up. Can’t really argue much with that.

Anyway she’s out of town so I’m a little short on sleep because I have this tendency to stay up too late when she’s not around. Somehow there’s just not the same incentive to get in bed when she’s gone. Go figure.

And it’s shearing day.

I am way overdue for a hair cut. It’s not so much that my hair’s too long. But the (remarkably few, if I do say so myself) grey ones on the side start to get a little cocky if I don’t keep them in check. It wouldn’t do if I started to look “older.” Then people might actually start to get the idea that maybe I should grow up.

Oh, and I’m starting to get some sideways glances from my neighbors about the lawn. I think I may be the only one on the cul-de-sac that hasn’t cut it yet this season. So I guess I’ll have to brave the gnats and get that chore done today.

And while I’m out for shearing I’m going to swing by and join the Y. Since I’ve been married my shoulders have effectively fallen to my gut. Something must be done! Gotta hang on to my youth as long as possible you know.

Am I a little vain? Perhaps. But life’s too short to get on the express train to the old dirt nap, as my brother in law would say.