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Fireproof
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Ethan C. Stevenson (1st October 2009). |
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The Film
 I felt a strong sense of déjà vu as I came off of “Facing the Giants” (2006) and continued on to “Fireproof”, thus completing my double feature of films from Sherwood Productions, the motion picture making arm of the Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. Sure, our lead actor may be different (this time it’s Kirk Cameron, rather than Alex Kendrick), and the characters may have different day jobs (one’s a fireman; the other, a football coach), but I couldn’t help but balk at the petty similarities between Caleb Holt in “Fireproof” and Grant Taylor in “Facing the Giants.” Although admittedly they are different people with different problems, the seemingly trivial issues that both have at home make me laugh, and not because said troubles are funny but because they are stupid. Again, yes there are deeper problems for both (Caleb’s marriage is falling apart and Grant couldn’t conceive a child.) that are not humorous in the slightest, but they also have niggling troubles, which could be easily remedied, which neither does anything about, other than complain. Grant’s house smelled and his car needed a new battery, Caleb needs to fix up his house (“the front door needs new paint, Caleb” his wife tells him early on) and there’s never any food in his fridge or clean clothes in his dresser. (These troubles make both characters very angry… at least I think, the acting is so bad I don’t really know.) Here’s an idea; why don’t you get up and do something about it? Go to Sears and get a new battery. Clean the house. Go to the effing supermarket and do the laundry yourself. How hard is that? Problems solved… easily. But, no, not in Kendrick land. These pathetic characters do nothing about their easily remedied problems; and why should they when all you have to do is pray, and God will fix it for you. I really can’t blame them as these characters live in this fictional world where God will fix your larger issues lickity-split, as long as you believe in him (he’ll take your ailing football team to the championship; he’ll fix your crumbling marriage if you ask real nice-like), so why bother with the little things, as he’ll obviously take care of those too. Excuse my cynicism, but I have no use for the men in these films. They are petty and not likeable in the least. Both of them expect respect from their wives simply because they are the men of the household and God expects a wife to be respectful of her husband. Caleb Holt is rather disgusting actually, demanding respect but giving none in return (Side-note: in one scene, Holt is literally inches from his wives face, basically about to smack her and we’re supposed to like him?) My problems with the characters and the overall (off-putting) tone aside, I still don’t like this movie. Perhaps it’s a better film than Alex Kendrick’s previous work, which is true, to any extent: if some of the God-talk were removed and the bad actors replaced with someone who actually had a little talent, you may have a decent film. (Unlike “Facing the Giants” which, no matter how much you change in that film, it’s still a needless entry into a genre that is among the most overdone in the industry, resulting in near self-parody these days). I do give “Fireproof” some points for actually trying to discuss a topic that isn’t all too often mentioned in movies, the collapse of a marriage. Too often we see films about the couples courting, and the early, happy, days of a marriage, but very rarely is film usually a place to discuss the hardships of life after the ceremony and what happens when the afterglow begins to wear off. For at least trying to tackle this subject, the film gets bumped up from a “F” to a “D-”; somewhere inside, when you tear away all of the disgusting fat that is this films stance on faith and it’s underlying social commentary sprinkled on top, there is something worthy of discussion left. But, unfortunately, the film is flawed in so many ways that, regardless of what’s underneath, I can’t give it a free ride. “Fireproof” is still low budget and cheap looking (although at $500,000, there was certainly more cash to spread around in the production, and you can see it almost, with more ambitious sets and scenes) and the cast is still mostly full of crummy actors. Cameron is a big step up from the non-starter that was Alex Kendrick but he’s still far from desirable. Kirk Cameron is a D-lister at best and not a D-lister who’s got talent. Erin Bethea, who plays Cameron’s wife, is a terrible actress to be certain. The fact that a large portion of the film is put upon here shoulders is disconcerting and problematic. (Ms. Bethea is a daughter of one of Sherwood’s pastors, which is likely the only reason she appears in this film). Worse is that Cameron and Bethea have no real chemistry together. This works at first; the lack of chemistry actually makes the beginning of the film, when the characters are supposed to be hating each other, fairly believable but the inevitable reconciliation and “re-courting” periods are dry and uncomfortable. I’m not sure if it’s a fault of the characters and how they were written, the direction from Kendrick or simply that the actors didn’t mesh well in real life, but at no point do either seem all that into each other. It’s never a good sign when the leading man and his best friend have better rapport throughout the film; especially when said film is not about their friendship but rather the rebuilding of one mans relationship with his wife. Again, the Kendrick brothers produce a terrible script; awfully heavy-handed and overly simplistic, I have to wonder why they pander to the lowest audience imaginable. Do they think their church members are this dumb? (I won’t answer that; I’ve probably offended enough people with this review already, so I’ll restrain). There is a scene where Caleb literally takes a baseball bat to his computer in order to bring an end to his porn addiction. Really? Couldn’t they just show that he had some self-control and didn’t look at those sites anymore? No, I guess not. They’d rather stick to the most literal depiction and have him physically obliterate that computer tower with that baseball bat, the most unsubtle way to show that he overcame the temptation; that he beat the demons. (Side-note: sometimes, when I was watching this movie, I too felt like taking a bat to something; I resisted the urge to smash my TV set and Blu-ray player with a Louisville slugger multiple times. Instead, I opted for crying myself into a depression, caused mostly by the pure dreadfulness of this film). As with their other films, the brothers resort to literally quoting the Bible, with their characters reading from it aloud instead of, you know, being creative and using metaphor. It’s as if the whole film (and this is true of “Facing the Giants” as well) is some big inside joke; those who have heard it before will nod along and are already laughing before the punch line because they already know where the joke is headed. Those of us, who haven’t been told the joke, stand around uncomfortably waiting for someone to explain or elaborate or even finish telling that joke, but know one ever does, and that doesn’t seem to matter to Sherwood. The film exists to please those who are already believers and does little to bring in new minds (ironic, considering Caleb is originally a non-believer who is “turned”). None of the Kendrick’s films really appeal to anyone outside the “bubble” and that, I think, is just lazy filmmaking. Again, my conclusion of the film may be totally off base; I don’t pretend to speak for everyone and you may like it (and then again, you may not). I don’t deny that there are people who must have liked “Fireproof.” The fact that the film grossed over $30,000,000 says that there is an audience for this type of movie, but all I know is I’m not a member of said audience and I did not like this film at all.
Video
Two years and some months newer, shot on better cameras and with a bigger budget, “Fireproof” looks considerably less amateur than the Kendrick’s previous film. Still, the 1.85:1 widescreen 1080p 24/fps AVC/MPEG-4 encoded transfer is fairly mediocre. Although sharper, cleaner and more detailed than “Facing the Giants”, “Fireproof” is anything but fireproof when it comes to Blu-ray. In fact, I’d say it looks like it’s on the verge of busting into flames. Contrast is scorching with whites blooming out of control and obscuring details. Skintones end up looking over reddish as well. The film has a yellow cast (filter) over the whole image and the result is a sort of plugged up, murkiness to all of the fine textures. I wouldn’t say this is bad, in fact I think the blu-ray is probably fairly accurate to the intended style, but it’s still not a home run. I expected more out of a film shot natively in 1080p high-definition. Is “Fireproof” good to decent looking? Surely, but it’s never anything spectacular; “Fireproof” looks like a moderately budgeted made-for-TV movie and the transfer looks like a stupendous broadcast of said movie. But it definitely doesn’t look like the best of what Blu-ray has to offer.
Audio
No matter if you listen to any of the three available options, whether it be English TrueHD 5.1, Spanish TrueHD 5.1 or Portuguese TrueHD 5.1, (all 48kHz/16-bit/1.2 Mbps average bitrate) “Fireproof” sounds mediocre. The low budget film comes across every bit as cheap as it was, with very little dynamic range, nearly no surround activity and flat, garbled dialogue. Yes, it’s a mostly subdued film full of long winded talking, so I never really expected this to be reference material, but even for a “talkie” this is underwhelming. “Fireproof” isn’t entirely devoid of action either, so there could be something here to impress… but there isn’t. The films few energetic sequences are also lifeless. Disappointingly, the expected crispness of lossless encoding is never present; dialogue isn’t always easy to understand (the cast is a bunch of mumblers, really) and I was never once convinced that this was high-definition audio. Subtitles are offered in English, English for the hearing impaired, Spanish, French and Portuguese.
Extras
While the Kendrick’s last film, “Facing the Giants,” was a little light on supplements, their follow up “Fireproof” is bursting at the seams with extras. The Blu-ray edition of “Fireproof” includes an audio commentary, deleted scenes, a gag reel, multiple featurettes, a music video and BD-Live functionality. Unfortunately, when you really start digging deep, it becomes clear that most of the material is highly repetitive and light on contextual facts. On the plus side, nearly all video based supplements are presented in 1080i or 1080p high-definition. Further details below: The Kendrick Brothers (Alex and Stephen) are back for an audio commentary on their third feature and they again offer fairly decent insight (especially considering that they’re amateurs) on the production of the film. Unfortunately, the track also has an abundance of “God talk” and that can be a bit off-putting; I’d rather listen to production information and comments or thoughts on the film itself, not sit through a sermon. 10 deleted scenes are preceded by a short 20-second introduction from director Alex Kendrick. All of the scenes are presented in 1.78:1 1080p 24/fps with Dolby 2.0 Stereo sound. Deletions include: - Caleb and his co-workers sit down for some chicken wings at the firehouse, which turns into a discussion on faith and God. 2 minutes 33 seconds. - Catherine and her friend Robin look through a photo album of the formers wedding. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, Caleb over hears their conversation, in which Catherine admits that she wishes she hadn’t married him. 1 minute 58 seconds. - Caleb thanks the two men who help he and his crew move the car off of the train tracks. 40 seconds. - An extended version of Caleb’s rescue of a small girl from a burning house; we see Caleb in shock, getting talked down by Michael (Ken Bevel). 1 minute 40 seconds. - A news report on the fire. 1 minutes 31 seconds. - Caleb prays. 51 seconds. - Catherine sees that the good doctor may not be as honest as he seems. 32 seconds. - They guys prank the rookie by dumping a bucket of water down the fireman’s pole. 28 seconds. - Terrell (Eric Young) comes to Caleb for some guidance on his marriage. Caleb suggests that he finds the Lord Jesus Christ and read “The Love Dare.” This scene has a hilariously inept line; Kirk Cameron says, “I’d be an atheist… if I hadn’t found God.” No shit, really? 1 minute 48 seconds. - Caleb and his father go for another walk, where Caleb thanks his father. 55 seconds. “Firegoofs, Jokes and Pranks” is your standard gag reel. There’s lots of Cameron asking for lines and other actors just genuinely screwing up. 7 minutes 41 seconds. Presented in 1.78:1 1080p 24/fps with 2.0 Dolby Stereo sound. Someone broke out the electronic press kit, edited it together cleverly and slapped a “behind-the-scenes” subtitle on it to make the material seem less commercialized. “Fireproof: Behind-the-Scenes” featurette is, mostly, a commercial for the film, with bits and pieces insight sprinkled throughout. After an extremely long introductory “trailer” for the film, the piece slips into monotonous territory with 22 minutes and 56 seconds of film clips and canned interviews from the set. On the bright side, the featurette is presented in 1080i high-definition and it looks good. The next featurette, titled “Marriage Matters”, is a little less commercial, with executive producer Michael Catt and the Kendrick brothers discussing the origins of the film and their thoughts on marriage. 7 minutes 25 seconds. Presented in 1080i high-definition. “Fireproof in 60” is an unintentionally comedic piece. The short 1 minute 33 seconds featurette has an introduction by director Alex Kendrick and then plays all of the films major points, in ludicrous speed (yay, “Spaceballs” (1987) joke; I’ve gotta do something to make me happy here) in under a minute. It’s funny because I feel that I got the same out of this sped up, trimmed version of the film as I did from the film proper. Presented in 1080p 24/fps. The next featurette “Wayne on Wayne” is an interview with actor Stephen Dervan who played Wayne Floyd in the film. He talks about working with Mike Seaver (aka Kirk Cameron), the Kendrick’s and other unimportant and uninteresting things. Runs 3 minutes 20 seconds. Presented in 1080p 24/fps. “Love Dare Promo” is an interview featurette with the Kendrick’s and various church members, discussing “The Love Dare”, the Best Selling book featured in the film that was written by the two brothers. As the title says this is a promo so it’s highly commercialized aesthetic is unsurprising. Runs 5 minutes 49 seconds, presented in 1080p 24/fps. “Filming a Movie in 30 Days: Fireproof Video Blogs” is a collection of Internet video blogs, edited into a single featurette. The piece chronicles the making of the film, providing more behind-the-scenes footage than the real “Behind-the-Scenes” doc, unfortunately, no one ever takes credit for anything in this, proclaiming that God did it or God was acting through him or her. People, own up. What you did, you did yourself, good and bad. Runs 20 minutes 31 seconds, presented in 1080p 24/fps. “Wayne’s Firehouse” featurette has Wayne (Stephen Dervan) back for more, giving a tour of the sets, goofing off and talking the talk. A fluffy featurette, it’s harmless but unfulfilling. 6 minutes 9 seconds. Presented in 1080i high-definition. “Fun with Mr. Rudolf” is a throw away collection of outtakes from the old man. Why this short series of alternate takes and slip-ups, running a scant 1 minute 1 second, wasn’t edited into the larger reel is beyond me. Lastly, a music video for the song “Slow Face” by the Christian Rock group Casting Crowns is included. Runs 5 minutes 22 seconds and is the only supplement presented in standard definition in the entire set. Bonus theatrical for “Facing the Giants” runs 2 minutes 11 seconds. 1080p 24/fps with 5.1 Dolby Digital. Finally, the disc is BD-Live enabled, but no exclusive content is offered. Instead, the link launches the viewer to Sony’s standard web portal, which contains a series of unrelated trailers for other Sony/Columbia-TriStar blu-ray discs and films. The bottom line with these supplements is this: there’s a lot of material here but very little of it is worth your time (unless you absolutely loved the film, then the message throughout should keep you happy). This is, sadly, a case where the studio favored quantity over quality.
Overall
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