Fireproof for Kids

Lt. Caleb Holt, a firefighter, lives by the old adage "Never leave your partner behind," which is his natural instinct when inside burning buildings. However, in the cooling embers of his marriage to Catherine Holt, the story is quite different. After a decade of marriage, Caleb and Catherine have drifted so far apart that they are ready to move on without each other. As they prepare to enter divorce proceedings, Caleb's dad asks him to try an experiment called "The Love Dare." Caleb commits to the challenge, though he hopes it has nothing to do with his parents' newfound faith. The question is, can he attempt to love his wife while avoiding God's love for him? Will he be able to demonstrate love over and over again to a person who is no longer receptive to his love? Or is this just another marriage destined to go up in smoke?

Fireproof, a feel-good drama, has a strong agenda: stay married, lead an honest life, and let your faith in a higher power guide you. Kirk Cameron, who is still boyish-looking, stars as Caleb Holt, a mercurial-tempered firefighter whose marriage is on the rocks. He clearly enjoys his status as a hero, but it comes at the expense of his marriage. His wife, Catherine, is tired of the distance and wants him to make more of an effort at home, rather than surf porn on the Internet and hoard his earnings toward his dream fishing boat instead of helping out her disabled mother.

Faced with impending divorce, Caleb's dad challenges him to follow the "40-day love dare," in which each task (cook her dinner, say nothing negative, etc.) is meant for him to better understand love and commitment and try and win his wife back. Fireproof is the third film by brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick, and it is their most polished feature. Cameron does a fine job of making Caleb real and believable, even when we're not always liking him. Though saddled at times with maudlin lines, Cameron adds emotion and range to his role.

There is a not so subtle theme that the Holts, who at the beginning of the film are agnostic, needed religion to save their marriage. Clearly, Fireproof believes in its agenda and was made with the Christian audience in mind. Whether secular audiences will fall under its spell as well is debatable, but no one should walk away from the film offended.

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