One woman’s religious awakening springs a force of change in her life, in “War Room”. Tony and Elizabeth Jordan (T.C Stallings and Priscilla Shirer) have it all. Great jobs, a beautiful daughter, and their dream house. But appearances can be deceiving. Tony and Elizabeth’s 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. Their lives take an unexpected turn when Elizabeth meets her newest client, Miss 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, Tony’s hidden struggles come to light. Tony must decide if he will make amends to his family and prove Miss Clara’s wisdom that victories don’t come by accident. What is painful to witness about “War Room” is that it (Like other films of the genre) is a one note pony that continues to spring for the same answer every time. I have no problem with a religious film if it good on the merits of solid filmmaking, but this movie was awful behind almost every turn. The acting is somewhere along the lines of an after school special. These actors are so wooden in their performances that it’s hard to believe they even believe in what they are preaching. Their line reads further cement what worried me in the opening scene; that this is the first film for many of the cast. This is mostly evident with many dialogue reads trailing off into mumbling territory. The sound editing and mixing in this film was so bad, and it became responsible for a lot of key moments being missed during my first viewing. Yes, i sadly sat throught this film twice because I felt like I missed a lot during my first viewing. What I discovered is that “War Room” has a very flimsly plot that ends with about a half hour remaining and has nowhere to go from there. If the movie ends during the predictable ending, this film would’ve gotten a solid 5/10 from me. During that first 80 minutes, the film might not be a sure winner, but it was entertaining enough from all of the unintentionally laughable responses from Miss Clara. She is honestly one of the most aggravating characters of the 146 films I have so far seen in 2015, and sadly it has a lot to do with the terrible light that she casts Christians under. I am well aware that not everyone reacts like she does, but it’s because of that, this character is insufferable. She is not only very nosey, but she blames every single problem on lack of religion. Tony is thinking of cheating on Elizabeth, so the only way to fix it is for Elizabeth to pray to god. The film’s screenplay is so hokey that right after Elizabeth prays, the prayer acts as an almost truth serum for Tony, and he gets sick every time he spends time with or even thinks about another woman. That hokey tone for the film continues on throughout the near two hour run time. The movie is just too clean and void of any kind of serious obstacle or adversity for our characters to face. Sure there is the crumbling of the marriage and Tony’s lack of dedication to his wife, but as i mentioned before, those resolutions are easy to spot from the very beginning of the movie. But once those are solved, then what? We are treated to a Doubledutch competition (I’m not kidding). Overall, this film is a pretty safe bet for the religious crowds who visit the theater once a month to catch the latest sermon. For everyone else, I would easily say to never go to war with this “War Room”. Keep it on the passable side of your memory for money better spent elsewhere.

3/10