War Room - D+

Rated PG, 120 minutes

OK, I'm a little late in finally seeing the new faith-based drama "War Room," doing so with fear and trepidation, given that I'm a Christian and not a fan of these poorly-made films. Made by the Georgia-based Kendrick brothers, who made such faith-based movies as "Fireproof" and "Courageous," there is some good news this time out. The good news is that the heavy-handed, third-rate and inspiration-message heavy "War Room" is better than their previous films, though honestly that isn't saying much. Tony (T.C. Stallings) and Elizabeth Jordan (Dallasite motivational speaker Priscilla Shirer) have it all; great jobs, a beautiful daughter, and their dream house though their world is actually crumbling under the strain of a failing marriage. While Tony basks in his professional success and flirts with temptation, Elizabeth resigns herself to increasing bitterness but their lives take an unexpected turn when Elizabeth meets her newest client, Mrs. Clara (Karen Abercrombie), and is challenged to establish a "war room" and a battle plan of prayer for her family. As Elizabeth tries to fight for her family, their struggles come to light and Tony must decide if he will make amends to his family and prove Mrs. Clara's wisdom that victories don't come by accident. Directed by Alex Kendrick and co-produced and written by Alex and his brother Stephen Kendrick, "War Room" is filled with the same type of Christian inspiration whose message should please evangelical audiences but have little impact with secular audiences, which seems counter intuitive to what the Christian message should be: reach the nonbelievers. It also doesn't help the movie, which is exceedingly dull and slow, often plays like an extended sermon or Bible study; having come from a background like this, I can completely appreciate and understand its ideology and good message, but don't understand why the filmmakers don't do more to expand the message a wider audience. As the opinionated but upbeat Mrs. Clara, Abercrombie is the most memorable and fun of the bunch, and she doesn't pull any punches, though the rest of the movie isn't near as good though the lovely Shirer is a total doppleganger for Michelle Obama, maybe I shouldn't say that given many evengelicals are so conservative. "War Room" has slightly better production values - and thankfully, no Kirk Cameron - than the Kendrick's other films and Christians will enjoy it (and have made it a big hit financially), but they should know the Good News is bad news when it doesn't really do its job.