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Summarized by Kent Larsen
God's Army Prompts Mixed Reviews in East
NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- As the LDS-oriented movie God's Army opened in
New York City and elsewhere in the Eastern U.S., reviews have been
mixed, with New York newspapers panning the show, while elsewhere
reviews were much more favorable. Predictably, the
nearly-impossible-to-please New York Times disliked the movie, but,
surprisingly the more-plebeian New York Post and the Christian
Science Monitor were also disappointed. But the Dallas Morning News
and the Kansas City Star liked the movie, and, even more
surprisingly, the intellectually-oriented public radio talk-show host
Leonard Lopate practically bubbled over the movie in an interview
with its director Richard Dutcher.
The New York Times' criticizes the film for its "preaching that is
likely to tax the credibility of the unconverted," but says it is
possible to like the film for its "unusual subject and unpretentious
performances." It suggests that Dutcher's performance in the role of
Elder Marcus Dalton is particularly good, calling it "convincing."
Dutcher might wish that the Times and the New York Post had compared
notes before writing their reviews, since the Post seems to have the
opposite criticisms of the movie. The Post calls God's Army an
"intelligent movie" that "admirably doesn't quite end up preaching to
the converted," but criticizes it for "too many bland performances,
clumsily staged scenes and laggard pacing that drags out the
proceedings for nearly two hours."
The Christian Science Monitor's brief review (all of two sentences)
has the same problem with the movie that the New York Times does. It
says "At heart, this is more a Mormon recruiting film than a
three-dimensional drama, but it provides fascinating glimpses of a
subject that Hollywood hardly ever touches."
Phillip Wuntch, writing in the Dallas Morning News, is much more
positive about the film, admiring its unexpected subtlety and the
unexpected detours the plot takes to get to a reassuring and
predictable end. It particularly liked Matthew Brown's performance as
Elder Brandon Allen, saying that his performance brought "poignant
shades to Elder Allen's 'greenness.' " Wuntch complemented all the
actors on "graceful" performances and noted that the musical score
was "effective in its beguiling simplicity -- much like the film
itself."
In the Kansas City Star, Robert Butler says that God's Army goes
beyond religious propaganda, making "observations about the nature of
faith [that] are insightful enough to arouse the interest of just
about anyone with a spiritual bent." Although he admits the plot
sounds "heavy-handed and didactic," Butler says "it doesn't play that
way." While he says Dutcher relies on melodrama in the plot, he also
credits him with "the skill and conviction to finesse his way around
the objections of non-Mormon viewers." However, Butler also notes
that "a scene in which missionaries convert Hispanic Roman Catholics
clearly wasn't designed to increase ecumenical harmony."
Possibly the most positive of the New York publications was,
paradoxically, the interview Dutcher did on public radio station
WNYC-AM with host Leonard Lopate of New York &Co. Lopate, known as
one of the more thorough interviewers, was very positive about the
film, praising Dutcher for making a film about a little-known subject.
Sources:
God's Army
New York Times 25Aug00 A2
By Lawrence Van Gelder
Good works don't necessarily make good films.
Movie Reviews: God's Army
NY Post 25Aug00 A2
Movie Guide (God's Army)
Christain Science Monitor 25Aug00 A2
God's Army
Dallas Morning News 25Aug00 A2
By Phillip Wuntch
'God's Army' preaches to converted
Kansas City KS Star 24Aug00 A2
By Robert W. Butler: Kansas City Star
Richard Deutcher on New York and Company Radio Talk Show
WNYC New York NY 22Aug00 A2
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