Encontro de Casais

If I were not a Christian I think I would give this movie a low score just because I was against the Christian message, because before I was a Christian that was my attitude about anything and everything that tried to tell me Jesus was the answer for anything.

But, by God's incredible love and grace I am a Christian now, and I'm giving it a 10.

I watch a lot of Christian films. There are not very many that have the surprise factors that I found in this one, and besides, it was just plain interesting, with really great actors that are fun to watch. I never knew what was going to happen next, and it was sweet.

This film is a sin. Not a sin against Christianity, but rather a sin against filmmaking in general. There isn't an ounce of comedy in this 'comedy' unless you consider tired jokes done over and over in films 15 years ago hilarious. Also, when you make a movie that appeals to only one demographic, don't mask it in the disguise of a film directed towards another demographic. This is nothing like Couple's Retreat and it borders on deceit marketing it as such. This is a downright awful film, and everyone in it will make a ton of money because it is marketed to a crowd starved for good cinema or anything remotely humorous and still spiritual. These 'film makers' should be ashamed of themselves.

Born-again Christianity and good cinema, while not necessarily mutually exclusive, generally aren't seen in the same zip code. People don't go to movies to be preached at. We go to movies because we want, and need good stories. Movies like Amazing Grace, Bella, and Ben-Hur are great stores, great movies, and have positive Christian themes. Unfortunately, a lot evangelical movies tend to be rather ham-fisted and "preachy." To appeal to a wider audience, you have to take into account the fact that most of the audience have foundational assumptions that might not include a Christian worldview. Marriage Retreat doesn't do that.

Of course there will always be people that decide to hate a Christian movie on general principle and spin it by critiquing something else other than the message (which is ultimately what offends them).

Marriage Retreat isn't a bad movie. It's got a reasonably good plot, some decent jokes, and it's nice to sit down and watch something that doesn't have a slew of F-bombs and crass sexual innuendos. Unfortunately, it won't spark much of an interest outside of the young-marrieds group at the local mega church.

Jeff Fahey, (Lost, Machete) Reginald Vel Johnson (Family Matters, Die Hard) and Victoria Jackson (Saturday Night Live, Baby Boom) star in this funny, heartfelt story about the difficulties many marriages face and the simple solution.

David A. R. White (In The Blink of an Eye, Hidden Secrets) and Andrea Logan White (Sarah's Choice) lead a trio of unhappily married couples to a mountain retreat where they are subjected to unorthodox and seemingly comical methods by the Dr. Sullivan (FAHEY) and his wife Katrina (JACKSON). As the couples struggle through the program for marital bliss, they soon discover it's not "What" they are missing from their lives but "Who", Jesus.

**DECENTLY GOOD MOVIE TO RESTORE FAITH**

Let me start out with 2 notes before I bash Marriage Retreat: 1) I'm a Christian, so I'm not bashing that this movie has a religious message, and 2) I haven't seen this in many years, maybe 6 or 7, but I still remember a thing or 2 about Marriage Retreat.

PureFlix, the company most reviled for God's Not Dead and Unplanned, ripped off Fireproof from The Kendrick Brothers. I actually like Fireproof, but this rip-off is not good.

The plot follows some church-going married couples. Reginald VelJohnson, the African American officer from Die Hard, plays the preacher of the church.

The Pastor advertises to the married couples in the congregation about Marriage Retreat, a camp-like place in the mountains that helps repair broken marriages. The couples don't want to go, as they think their marriages are fine. However, they decide to go- and there they realize that they did in fact need the help.

The place Marriage Retreat works like marriage counseling and a vacation place all in one. There are counselors who sit down a spouse one by one- a personal talk for a husband, and one for a wife.

I'm all for marriage counseling, don't get me wrong, but the couples need to open up to counselors themselves. The counselors at Marriage Retreat forces them to talk and give personal information.

For example, one woman talks to a wife and coaxes her to admit that she is pregnant and that she hasn't told her husband, who didn't want to have kids.

It's just creepy, and rude if you ask me. The movie should have been about these couples seeing a real counselor in a therapy building, and not strangers begging for this information.

That right there summarizes the issue with Marriage Retreat. It's a poorly told and creepy story that shows that even in the early days Pure Flix only cared about messages more than well made movies with well told stories.

Honestly, this movie could break more marriages than make them.

Reverse Recommendations: For a better Christian movie about a broken marriage, see Fireproof. It's no masterpiece, but it's much better.

Also, for a secular alternative, see American Beauty. Honestly, even with all the sinful content, that could be used to discuss the dangers of a self-centered marriage rather than a Christ-centered one.