Movie Review: War Room

I took my family to see War Room recently and loved it! The Kendrick brothers have done a great job with their previous movies (and their growing skill at movie-making is obvious) so my excitement as I stepped into the theater was well placed.

Here are just a few of the reasons that I loved this movie:

It is about prayer. 

There is one spiritual discipline that most Christians know we should engage in. Yet, that same discipline is a source of defeat. We know we should be praying more than we are so we live with disappointment. This movie helps to highlight this spiritual discipline by pointing out the power of prayer and providing some principles of effective prayer.

It is encouraging and not condemning. 

Rather than beating Christians over the head for not praying more, this movie encourages and motivates Christians to get back into the prayer closet. Honestly, people tend to respond much better to encouragement than condemnation. This movie tapped into that.
 
It leaves the viewer with a desire to create a "war room." 

Folks who left the theater weren't simply talking about how good the movie was. Many left with a desire to do something about what they had just watched. They want to pray more. They want to empty out a closet and turn it into a war room where they do battle on their knees.

It is culturally relevant.
 
Many Christians are greatly concerned that our country is in desperate trouble. Immorality seems to be growing exponentially on every front. This movie provided the solution found in 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Most of it's main characters aren't white.
 
I LOVED the fact that most of the main characters didn't have the same skin tone as me. (What must the black community feel like when most of the movies they see are cast with white people?) Yet, in celebrating our differences, I relished the fact that the men and women on the screen were my brothers and sisters-in-Christ.

The actors performed incredibly.
 
Most of the actors weren't "actors." Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer are well known speakers at women's conferences and are prolific writers ... but they aren't actors. Yet, the Kendrick brothers cast them and allowed them to excel in yet another area of influence. They did incredibly well as did each of the other actors.

My absolute favorite was "Ms. Clara!" Karen Abercrombie did an incredible job in her role as the older lady who would essentially be the hero of the movie. It was through her masterful acting that the writers were able to share much wisdom and inspiration about prayer with the viewer. (As an aside, I was a little disappointed when I found out that "Ms. Clara" was played by a much younger actor. I honestly found myself wishing that Ms. Clara was real to life. But, that just goes to show how incredible of a job that Karen did to make "Ms. Clara" believable and likable to the viewer.)

The characters became our friends.
 
The movie was 2 hours long but I've sat in movies that long before where I just didn't feel a connection with the movie characters. Not so with War Room. I left the theater feeling as if I had come to know and really enjoy the persons in the movie. They had become my friends as I "lived life" with them for a couple of hours.

There was a sense of community in the theater.  

Even though it may not have been said, I couldn't help but feel a kinship with those around me in the theater as War Room was playing. (I don't feel this with other movies.) Why? Because most of the folks in the room, even if we don't know each other's name, are brothers and sisters-in-Christ. So, it kind of felt like a family night in the living room around the tv.

It was a movie the whole family could watch.
 
It's often extremely difficult to find a movie that I enjoy that the rest of my family enjoys as well. I've got a wife and sons in 5th grade, 9th grade and 11th grade. And each of us has our specific taste in movies. Yet, War Room is a movie that all of us loved. I especially loved that my 5th grader could watch it knowing that there was absolutely no objectionable content.

It is a prophetic warning for America. 

In the Old Testament, God sent prophets to warn His people of their sin, call for repentance and encourage them to follow Him. In our day, I believe that God is not only using preachers and ordinary Christians to sound the alarm, He's also using fantastic movies. I can't help but believe that God is calling our nation back to Himself so that He does not have to administer His judgment upon us. He's calling His people to humble themselves and pray. I can't help but think that one of His "prophets" is War Room. Through this movie, God is calling for Christians to wake up and pray like we've never prayed before in hopes that our nation can be healed.


So, these are a few of my reflections. If you haven't yet seen War Room, you owe it to yourself to see it this weekend. Do your faith a favor - watch the movie!