Movie Review: War Room

War Room opens this coming weekend (8/28)! Go see it! Opening weekend is the most important weekend to see a new movie. Take the time to support this film.

My thoughts:

We saw Courageous a few years ago, so when I heard the same guys (the Kendrick Brothers) made another movie I was interested. Especially when I heard Beth Moore was in the movie, she is a local gal and I wanted to see it in support of her.

War Room opens in 800 theaters on August 28th. Go see it opening weekend. You won’t be disappointed. It’s one of the funniest and most entertaining movies I’ve seen in a while. I loved the characters and thought the writing was very well done. The timing of lines and humor between several characters puts the level of writing in this movie far beyond any other Christian movie I’ve seen. Often I walk away from religious movies thinking the story was forced or the message rushed, but that was not the case with this movie.  The message was relevant, profound, and well told without coming across as preachy.

 Three things you need to know about this movie:

1.) Your life will be changed by the idea of mentoring 

Ms. Clara reaches out to Elizabeth, not just once but twice in a determined effort to mentor the younger woman. You see Ms. Clara prayed about mentoring a young woman and she sensed that God’s answer was Elizabeth. She acted on faith.  Elizabeth needed Clara, but she didn’t understand it. She knew her marriage was in trouble, yet she didn’t know what to do differently.

Sometimes we need someone to wake us up from the insanity of doing the same thing over and over.

Clara filled the role of a wise, slightly crazy older woman perfectly. She kept the laughs coming and brought just the right amount of lightness to the film while showing you can be funny and still walk firmly in your faith.  I left the movie theater wishing I had a Clara in my life and you will too.

2.) Marriage is messy.

This movie doesn’t sugar coat or hide the truth. Marriage is hard. You feel the tension between Elizabeth and Tony. A few times I cringed as words flew between the two on screen, all while their young daughter sat watching them. It’s reality folks. You know it and I know it.  We try not to argue in front of the kids, but there are times we find ourselves caught off guard and something slips in anger. Regret leads to anger or worse… distance.

The real message: My contentment doesn’t come from my marriage.

We have to look to God for healing in our marriages because Satan is not just standing by. He is actively working to make each of us unhappy. He loves when we are bitter and fighting.  Did you know Satan is trying to destroy your marriage? He is the real enemy, not your spouse.  Are you willing to fight for your marriage?  Do you know how to fight? Prayer.

3.) Prayer is powerful

There is not room in your marriage for you, your spouse, God, and Satan. It just won’t work. Make a prayer strategy for each area of your life. Find a scripture to stand on and start praying. The war room is a prayer room. A place where you can pray to God and not allow life to interrupt you. There are resources available to help you (see the link below).  One of my favorite lines in the movie was said at the very beginning.  “Victories don’t happen by accident.” 

We all have a choice.  We can choose to pretend everything is okay. We can choose to be bitter.  Or we can choose to pray and seek God.

War Room Movie Resources:  http://warroommovieresources.com/

One last note! One of the previews they showed was for a movie called, Risen. WOW! It looks amazing, too.  Here’s a link, so you can check it out:  RISEN video clip