War Room (2015)

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

This review contains some plot points, but the film is not really plot driven per se.The movie opens with a narration by Miss Clara (Karen Abercrombie). Her husband, who had worked in a war room had died. She creates a prayer closet which she calls her "war room." Tony (T.C. Stallings) and Elizabeth (Priscilla C. Shirer) have martial problems. Elizabeth is a real estate agent who is selling Miss Clara's home. Clara has decided to take Elizabeth under her wing.I don't need to go any further at this point. You pretty much know the rest as God answers all prayers to those who know how to prayer correctly according to the Bible. There are themes of "paying it forward" and that "God is in control."The film is inspirational and my African-American friends thought if I watched this film, I would become a believer. My sister believes if everyone listens to country music, America would be great. This is another re-invent Christianity production complete with a church campaign kit, just like "Do You Believe" where a pastor ponders the cross for the first time in his life... and please buy the church kit which always give me mixed feelings on people profiting off the Bible.The end of the film closes with a prayer for America, while having good intentions and being inspirational, doesn't leave much room for religious diversity. 5 stars as a spiritual film.

It seems that there's been a surge in faith based films in recent times, being a Christian myself I do appreciate the fact that people of faith are trying to get more films dealing with Christ out there but as is the case with many recent faith based films they just tend to not be that good almost as if the film makers are sacrificing a good story just to get a general message out there and im sorry to say "War Room" is in the same mess along with all the others. The message is good but I'd think you'd want to make the story as good as you can so that many people(even those who don't believe) would like to see it, the acting can be forgiven(mostly) but if the stories not good and acting is mediocre with average directing its pretty much a recipe for disaster.War Room as the trailers and every promotion show is a film about fidelity, a husband staying loyal to his wife or a wife fighting spiritually to get her husband back. Elizabeth is home bound wife doing a lot of work trying to raise her daughter and be there for her husband, Tony; whom doesn't seem to be reciprocating and as we find out is actually cheating on her. Clara, a woman of faith, comes into the picture and is essentially the faith guide for Elizabeth giving her council in her situation. Elizabeth decides to make herself a prayer room(im guessing the War Room) out of her closet but at the same time is a kind of "Me Time" room and from here she prays constantly and asks God for help with her husband. Her prayers are answered and eventually Tony sees the error of his ways and comes back to his wife and asks for forgiveness, from here on out they attempt to fix their marriage all the while Tony has work related issues which some might deduce is a punishment from God that he must endure. As with most of these films it ends with a prayer/statement about the affairs in the world and for God to give us the grace to take them on.The issue brought up in the film is a good one and I believe very relevant especially with the rate of divorce's in this country alone and ill say this the story was a bit easier to follow compared to other films like "Gods Not Dead" but the story feels so bland and not to mention there are aspects of this film that just don't make sense such as the opening scene which is Vietnam War footage(which has absolutely no bearing on the story except to emphasize war room) The Vietnam war is mentioned once but only through Clara who mentions her husband was a veteran but beyond that the opening sequence added nothing and not to mention the title itself is out of place and really should've been called Prayer room or the me closet even which both makes more sense than "War Room" the title by itself would make you think your watching something else but when you sit down to watch it your wondering where did this story come from. The acting as I said is very mediocre and at times laughable. The story potential was there and I would even call for another film to do it better but overall like all these movies it just didn't work and I cant help but wonder if these films do more harm than good because the film makers cant decide what they're doing.I would say pass it over but for sure if you really want to check it out for yourself by all means do it (indeed protestant Christians love these films regardless the quality of the film or how they are made, they promote them so if you're a protestant in particular some type of evangelical then you might love it a lot)

In its favor, "War Room" looks bright, shiny, and slick. Some money was spent on the production, and everything looks good. (Including the cast). It's intermittently amusing and tries to present what the creators consider to be an uplifting, inspiring message.Against? Well, unless you take this STRICTLY as a parable (and I hope you do), it advocates using prayer as a weapon to save your marriage. And, by extension, every other major problem in your life. (Spoiler alert: this is what the Catholic Church told my mom to try to save her first marriage...guess how well THAT turned out!) An intriguing and controversial idea...but the Hallmark Channel or Lifetime Movie Network would have rejected this screenplay and its characters as too shallow and one-dimensional to hold our interest for more than 30 minutes (although the husband's best friend has some good comic timing and delivery). It definitely won't (and shouldn't) convert anyone to this school of thought if they have two critical brain cells to scrape against one another. (People raised in this tradition are another matter.) Our heroine tries to save her marriage by listening to a busybody and clearing out a closet to dedicate to praying to God to save her marriage. (Upside: the montage where she tries to get comfortable and settled down actually has some wit). And so, at the critical moment when her husband is about to cheat on her, hundreds of miles away, he gets an upset stomach.Ummm, yeah.The movie goes like that. The cast is relentlessly one-note in their performances. I suspect that most of them are capable of more, and everyone certainly is photogenic..but the director and the screenplay won't let them be more, and it makes for a bad case of over-earnest preaching. OK, I'm obviously not the audience this is intended for. And the movie tries to be about something, and it doesn't suck the way an incompetent "B" movie would. So...5 out of 10, mostly on the strength of the paramedic buddy's performance, and the closet "settling down" montage.

"War Room" is an American 2-hour film from last year and before I go a bit into detail on it, let me elaborate a bit on my personal stand when it comes to religion. I am not a man of religion, I never go to church, never pray or have other connections to Christianity or any other religion. But I am also not one of these who strictly oppose it. I respect people who have a strong faith and I would never mock them. And this position between both parties is why I believe I did not manage to appreciate the film really. Devote Christians may love it, people very critical about religion may hate it, but both sides will feel something. I myself felt almost nothing, neither positive nor negative watching this one. It is a very mediocre outcome in regards of Alex Kendrick's writing and direction and also in terms of the performances. There are good moments, there are bad moments, but I personally must say the core elements of the story in terms of how the 2 adult protagonists have to find their way with God in order to overcome their struggles were not entirely convincing and even for my neutral taste, the film, at times, became too preachy and focused on God ignoring better ways to elaborate in a more convincing manner on the story. It is perfectly fine that God is the center of the movie, but there were really no "sub-centers" for almost the entire film and too much focus on one component and one component only is never a good thing, regardless what that component is. Funny to say a film with a predominantly Black cast lacked in the diversity area. Who do I recommend this film to? Really only devote Christians. Neutral observers like myself won't get too much from the experience and religion critics will only see their hate increase. No need to fuel negativity. "War Room" (also the war reference that is elaborated early on is really vague and feels irrelevant for the majority of the film) is not a good film. Thumbs down.