Tag: Cinema

I groaned at the appearance of the first Mormon joke of the movie. A tall man walks up to give a talk and the new counselor has trouble with the podium, making it go up and down ten times before deciding to come up to it and, in an attempt to raise it, rips the top of the podium right off and knocks down the speaker. Fortunately, the scene almost seems to be a joke on the audience ““ horrifying us with the prospect of another Home Teachers before settling into a somewhat more mature comedy. Unfortunately, the comedy that we do get isn’t that much funnier.

Mobsters and Mormons is the story of Carmine (Mark DeCarlo) a New York mobster who, after ratting out his co-mobsters, is placed in a witness protection program and relocated with his family to Utah. Most of the humor is then derived from Carmine’s tough-guy reaction to a rather stereotypically portrayed Utah Valley. There are a few laughs, but DeCarlo’s antics quickly wear thin. He’s got a lot of energy, but if you don’t find his rather childish behavior funny, it’s almost difficult to sit through.

As Carmine’s family ““ now renamed the Cheeseman’s ““ move into the neighborhood, they are eventually shunned by everyone but one family. Sadly, the neighbors who hate the Cheeseman’s are all cartoons. Not only do we fail to really understand their hesitance, but they actually act like cartoons. Maybe it’s because Carmine himself is always acting like a cartoon. In any case, I think it’s precisely this kind of camp that puts off so much of its Mormon audience.

In spite of the flatness of its humor, Mobsters and Mormons is still possibly the best LDS comedy to date ““ strangely enough ““ because of its serious side. The narrative of the film is actually rather steady and its climax surprisingly compelling.

Though he’s terribly one-dimensional, I like Michael (Scott Christopher), the father of the family who embraces the Cheesemans. He reaches out to the new family in every way that a good-hearted bishopric member might. Our failure to see the motivation in his actions actually works out rather well ““ he’s just a genuine Christian and his motives are pure.

Though initially resistant, Carmine is ultimately touched by the kindness, the devotion to family and the religiosity of his neighbors and slowly embraces a tenderness, concern for family and a spirituality of his own. The story eventually manages to be a stirring reminder to both Mormons and Non-Mormons of the senselessness in judging each other. I don’t think there’s been an LDS film yet that’s been better at directly addressing both insider and outsider audiences in a meaningful way. Now if it could just succeed in its humor attempts, we might be getting somewhere.

Released on DVD one week ago today, American Mormon is a short documentary made by Daryn Tufts (Eldon of The Singles Ward) and Jed Knudson (of The Whole Armor of God). Much in the style of Leno’s Jaywalking spots, Tufts goes around asking random people all about the Mormons ““ what they think of them, what they can and can’t do, what they believe, some basics of church history, and so forth.

Though rarely laugh out loud material, it’s a continually amusing spectacle. There are a lot of responses that you might expect (comments about polygamy), and then some that you wouldn’t (at least Mormons don’t come to your door like those JW’s, thank goodness). They manage to hit some normal people as well as some rather unusual people as well, getting a nice variety of answers. Some people know what they’re talking about, some admit to not knowing basic things, and others make false assertions with some assurance. While we’re generally humored by misconceptions and funny answers, it quickly becomes apparent that some people have simply confused Mormons with the Amish or Jehovah’s Witnesses, and don’t actually think such things of Mormons.

Because responses have been chosen out of 20 hours worth of material, it’s probably not a good sociological reference for Americans’ opinions of Mormons. Particularly notable is the absence of any serious criticisms or misgivings about Mormons. Tufts mentions in the DVD commentary that he was surprised that all the people they ran into were so positive about Mormons, which I’m willing to believe ““ but I think most people figured out that the filmmakers were Mormon and that it wouldn’t have been polite to say anything harshly critical. Regardless of its accuracy in capturing general opinion, it’s still something that I think would be of interest to a people who are so concerned about what others think of them.

It’s only 35 minutes, but we wouldn’t want it any longer. Dragging it out any longer would probably have become tedious, but the near-equivalent of a TV show is just long enough that you can get a good feel for the matter. DVD extras include a commentary track, some outtakes, and an advertisement for a Book of Mormon game.

The biggest problem with American Mormon is the price. I paid 12.99 plus tax for the half hour show, and then they had the gall to tell me I saved seven dollars by shopping at Deseret Book. Who in their right mind would pay 20 bucks for this thing? In fact, I’m curious as to who’s going to pay $13 for it (besides me). I also want to know who’s actually going to be charging $20 for it ““ certainly neither Wal-Mart nor Seagull. Why don’t they just say it’s $100 and then tell us we saved $87? This business of hiking up list prices so that retailers can sell them at extravagant “discounts” seems very silly to me ““ particularly so when all of the retailers are going to be selling it at the discount price.

American Mormon would have been a great addition to a collection of LDS comedy skits or as an extra on another DVD. It’s definitely worth a half hour of your time; it just isn’t worth over thirteen dollars of your money.