YMMV / War Room

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• Designated Hero: Clara is meant to be portrayed as a wise, Eccentric Mentor to Elizabeth who's experience helps her during a tough part of her life. The thing is, she comes across as passive-aggressive to the people around her in a way that was meant to be charming, but ends up making her look Innocently Insensitive. She pries into Elizabeth's religious and personal business, rebukes Elizabeth's woes about her husband's abusive behavior as "whining" and tells her that she should think of how she should change to suit his needs (essentially blaming her for her husband's abusive behavior), proselytizes to everyone she meets in the movie, and her advice boils down to "pray and it'll sort itself out." The fact that she was written by two white guys doesn't help.
• Glurge:
  • The film, ostensibly about a couple turning to faith during a rough patch in their marriage, imparts the message that Satan is responsible for a verbally abusive and adulterous husband's behavior, and all his wife needs to do is pray for him. This is particularly dangerous since many abuse victims stay with their partners precisely because they believe it's their responsibility to "save" their abusers.
  • A subplot of the film has T.J. making thousands of dollars by stealing and selling his company's drugs. After he finds the Lord, he takes the leftover stolen goods back to his boss, practically ensuring major prosecution. The boss later tells him that he'll let the whole thing slide - a move that, aside from being grossly irresponsible, suggests that being sufficiently Christian will spare you from the real-world consequences of poor or bad decisions; even a cursory reading of The Bible will not support such a moral.
• Narm:
  • Elizabeth is walking around and raving like a complete maniac at the Devil that he can't have her marriage, husband, or daughter, then stomps back into the house...and immediately stomps back out of the house and begins raving again, starting with "And another thing!" This is all played as a completely normal thing to do instead of the unhinged ramblings of a religious fanatic who is going off the deep end.
  • T.J. selling his company's drugs to the black market is completely nonsensical considering how very well-off he and Elizabeth are. It only serves to show how much of a scumbag he initially was.
  • Clara somehow scaring off the mugger who had her and Elizabeth at knife point by invoking Jesus' name.
• Padding: An entire scene is dedicated to Danielle's jump rope competition. It has nothing to do with the story and only serves to make Tony look like a good father and to help pad the runtime to two hours.

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