FIREPROOF Review

In my opinion, the movie Fireproof was amazing. It is a religious movie, made by the same person who wrote the movies, Remember The Titans, and Flywheel. So, if you have seen either of those and enjoyed them, you are sure to love this one. It is about a young married couple who's marriage is pretty much already doomed and headed for sure divorce. The husband is a firefighter, who has no problem rushing into burning buildings to save strangers with out hesitation, but when it comes to saving his own marriage, it is just too much effort. He is saving up money to one day buy himself a big boat, and clearly makes it known to his wife that he is doing that and she can not stop him. The wife works in a hospital. Her mother had a stroke about one year ago, and is now in desperate need of a new wheelchair and hospital bed, which are both very expensive, and she can not afford them. Those are the two big issues that each of them has with the other, their non willingness to comprimise. So, they decide they want to get a divorce and not save their marriage. Well, the husband decides to talk to his parents about what is going on, and his father asks him if he really wants the divorce, which he replies that he does not. His father tells him to wait 40 days before he files for divorce, and he will send him something in the mail that he wants his son to do before he gives up on the marriage. In the mail is a book which tells of 40 rules to follow each day for 40 days. The husband does not tell his wife that he is doing this, but agrees to his father that he will try. The first day he is to bite his tongue and say nothing sour to his spouse, no matter what that person may say. So he does this. The second day, he has to follow the first days rule, and also is to do something out of the ordinary, but simple for his spouse. He does this, and is not even acknowleged for his actions. Throughout the movie, he talks to his friends and parents about how this process is progressing, and also voices his frustration towards his spouse for her lack of acknowledgement and appreciation for his efforts. During this time, his wife goes to see her mother every week, and the husband does not ever go with her. The wife talks of her frustration with her husband to her mom, and also her friends and co-workers. They are not supportive of the husband or any of his efforts thus far. They even tell her that he is only doing these nice things to get a good settlement in their divorce. Then, she starts talking about her problems to a fellow worker who is a male doctor, and voices her frustration about her husband saving all of his money to buy a boat when her mother is in such great need of new medical equiptment. The wife and the doctor start to get really close and start to form a more personal relationship, talking and eating together often, and also a bit of flirting goes on. In the meantime, the husband, eventhough he is frustrated, continues with his 40 days. Only to get an envelope left for him on their table by his wife, which contains divorce papers. A few days later, the wife goes to the medical supply store to inquire about the items needed for her mother, and is told that someone had come in and paid money towards the items. Stunned, but happy, she goes to work and thanks the doctor for doing this for her. The doctor takes credit for this and now she sees him as this great person, which makes her resent her husband even more for his lack of care to do this. The doctor leaves a card on the wifes desk at work, expressing his interest in her. The husband finds it and confronts the doctor about the fact that that is his wife and he is willing to fight for his marriage still, so to back off. The doctor then acts different when approached by the wife at work, as if he is blowing her off and no longer interested in her. She is puzzled, as she is unaware of the meeting between the two men. She goes to the medical supply store to make a payment towards the medical equiptment for her mother, when the salesperson at the store asks her how her mother likes her new items. Puzzled, she is informed that someone had come in and paid for the items in full, and they were delivered that day to her mother's house. The salesperson tells her that her husband had come in the week before, the day before she left the divorce papers for him, and told her not to tell his wife anything about him doing it. The wife turned around and started to cry as she left the store. Her husband had used all the money he saved for his boat, and did this for her and her mother. Realizing this, and finding the 40 day book, she started to rethink her feelings toward her husband, and realized that he really had changed and become a better person. In the end, they both ended up changing in different ways that were for the better in each of them. They remembered how much they really did love one another and how much they wanted to be together, and decided to renew their vows and not continue with divorce. One thing  I had forgotten to mention was that in the begining of the movie, the husband did not believe he needed God within himself and his life, but by the end of the movie, God was his savior!