First of all, let me make it clear that I am an active Latter-day Saint who takes an open-minded approach to life and all that it has to offer. I am not narrow-minded nor am I paranoid like the scale I witnessed as being so prevalent when I attended school in Utah over 20 years ago.
This movie Richard Dutcher's first was a delight to watch because it portrayed a realistic glimpse of life as a Mormon missionary, especially in Los Angeles, and was not some sanitized cream-puff flick cranked out by the BYU public-relations machine. I have long felt that LDS cinema would have its time; even President Spencer W. Kimball (1895-1985) had said the time would come where we would have 'our own kind of music', etc., and that our people would become achievers in the arts. We are seeing that in music, film and in other mediums that our time is not only now here, but that it is being welcomed even embraced by all who are seeking an escape from the filth that permeates so much of our modern society, especially in the areas of contemporary cinema and music.
GOD'S ARMY showed how many of these young men who are still basically boys at heart come out, many of them away from home for the very first time. Here you see some of the emotional baggage, to include Dutcher's companion the 'greenie' (a term for a brand new missionary) who comes from a family where the father was a sexual predator that is currently incarcerated, to another elder who is reading tracts that has him struggling with his faith to Dutcher's character himself who we learn is fighting the greatest battle of all cancer.
As we watch these characters grow, change and develop, we find ourselves cheering for them; for to a greater or lesser extent, we find a part of ourselves in each of them. The greenie who grows into his calling as a missionary, Dutcher's role as 'Pop', the other missionaries and the qualities they add, to include the practical jokes they pull on each other only add to the quality and even authenticity of the film.
The scene with the mission president in the first part of the film has him coming across as a real jerk and could have been handled with more dignity. Frankly, the mission president depicted in the film came across as a real heavy-handed Bozo the Clown. While I have never met a mission president like that, I imagine there is one like that that slips through the cracks from time to time, I believe that scene could have been handled better while still adding a little to the storyline in this case.
A treat to watch, well acted, superbly written and directed by a very talented Richard Dutcher and a welcome addition to any film library, on a scale of one to ten, I give this one a 10/10. ***
This movie Richard Dutcher's first was a delight to watch because it portrayed a realistic glimpse of life as a Mormon missionary, especially in Los Angeles, and was not some sanitized cream-puff flick cranked out by the BYU public-relations machine. I have long felt that LDS cinema would have its time; even President Spencer W. Kimball (1895-1985) had said the time would come where we would have 'our own kind of music', etc., and that our people would become achievers in the arts. We are seeing that in music, film and in other mediums that our time is not only now here, but that it is being welcomed even embraced by all who are seeking an escape from the filth that permeates so much of our modern society, especially in the areas of contemporary cinema and music.
GOD'S ARMY showed how many of these young men who are still basically boys at heart come out, many of them away from home for the very first time. Here you see some of the emotional baggage, to include Dutcher's companion the 'greenie' (a term for a brand new missionary) who comes from a family where the father was a sexual predator that is currently incarcerated, to another elder who is reading tracts that has him struggling with his faith to Dutcher's character himself who we learn is fighting the greatest battle of all cancer.
As we watch these characters grow, change and develop, we find ourselves cheering for them; for to a greater or lesser extent, we find a part of ourselves in each of them. The greenie who grows into his calling as a missionary, Dutcher's role as 'Pop', the other missionaries and the qualities they add, to include the practical jokes they pull on each other only add to the quality and even authenticity of the film.
The scene with the mission president in the first part of the film has him coming across as a real jerk and could have been handled with more dignity. Frankly, the mission president depicted in the film came across as a real heavy-handed Bozo the Clown. While I have never met a mission president like that, I imagine there is one like that that slips through the cracks from time to time, I believe that scene could have been handled better while still adding a little to the storyline in this case.
A treat to watch, well acted, superbly written and directed by a very talented Richard Dutcher and a welcome addition to any film library, on a scale of one to ten, I give this one a 10/10. ***