GOD'S ARMY A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ***
In a popularity contest, those well-scrubbed young men in their starched white shirts and dark ties, who show up on your doorstep offering you the Book of Mormon, would probably finish dead last. Most people can't shut the door fast enough when they realize who is there. Movies about Mormon missionaries might seem likely to get the same reaction from non-believers. In the case of GOD'S ARMY, viewers who shut the cinematic equivalent of the door in its face will be depriving themselves of a surprisingly good film about faith and dedication.
Like a high quality blend of a documentary and an after-school television special, this low-budget, fictional film creates a host of interesting characters and provides a lot of surprising background on what it means to be a Mormon missionary. Although you may have never given them a second thought, they don't have an easy vocation. They have to give up two years of their lives only to have most people slam the door in their face, or worse.
As Elder Allen (the young missionaries are all called Elders), Matthew Brown gives a complex performance as a kid filled with reservations about whether he should be a missionary. "Isn't it funny how a few short days can change your whole life forever?" he tells us in voice-over in the opening. "And it isn't until later that you realize what happened to you."
Elder Allen has been sent to L.A., which with its "live nude girls" marquees, looks like a den of iniquity to someone from Kansas, like Elder Allen. (There are too many references to the Wizard of Oz in the script, which otherwise, is sharp, intelligent and humorous.)
Elder Allen has been assigned to room with Elder Dalton, who is generally referred to as "Pops" because, at 29, he is much older than the typically 19-year-old missionaries. As Elder Dalton, Richard Dutcher, who also writes and directs, steals the show. In a moving performance, he becomes the Yoda of their group. When the story segues from the humorous to the dramatic, Elder Dalton's story becomes more prominent, as we learn that his life has been no bowl of cherries.
An excellent teacher, Elder Dalton likens their work to that of the phone company. They don't convert anyone; they just supply the tools so that others can get in touch with God. It's an interesting metaphor and one of many in the thought-provoking script. Always polite but not one easy to say "no" to, he has answers for all occasions. "I think that if you're not interested in what we have to say, then you must not know what we have to say," he tells one person who naively thinks that expressing non-interest will make the missionaries leave.
There is certainly one thing that isn't likely to come to mind when people think of Mormon missionaries, and that is that they could be big practical jokesters -- not to their would-be converts, but to themselves. In a movie that is frequently quite funny, one of the best scenes has a guy telling Elder Allen on his first day that he is going to get his gun if they don't leave. Elder Dalton then pushes Elder Allen into the dark, cheap apartment of the gun owner. Frightened out of his wits, Elder Allen is surprised by a camera's flash that goes off in front of his face. This is his new home, and the guys in it are other missionaries who'll be his companions. The bad guy who claimed to have a gun is just another missionary, who was playing a welcoming game on the recruit.
When Elder Allen finds out that the last guy left his bed just hours before, Elder Kinegar (Michael Buster) explains, "That's one of the blessings of a life of poverty -- doesn't take long to pack."
The story doesn't skirt difficult issues. Elder Kinegar spends his free time reading anti-Mormon books aloud. At first claiming that he just wants to be able to refute the arguments of non-believers, he later begins to believe the books and not his church's teachings. The role of women and minorities are discussed as well. And Elder Allen will develop eyes for one of the Mormon Sisters on a similar mission.
The good-spirited and informative picture is well-cast throughout even if the acting is sometimes amateurish. A moving and quite funny film, it isn't at all what you might expect. But be warned: after seeing it you may not be able to quite so efficaciously shoo missionaries from your doorstep. Knowing more about them makes them more human and more deserving of basic human politeness.
GOD'S ARMY runs 1:47. It is rated PG for thematic elements and some language and would be fine for anyone old enough to be interested in the subject matter.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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