After a period in which there were no LDS Cinema films playing in theaters for most of the summer, the movement is back - and this time around, Halestorm Entertainment has invited the family along for the ride.

No, I'm not talking about temple marriage, eternal progression or even Monday night family home evenings here. I'm referring to the family, a.k.a the mafia. John E. Moyer, screenwriter for The Singles Ward and The R.M., is making his directing debut with Mobsters and Mormons which opens this weekend in theaters in Utah and Idaho. (Moyer wrote the screenplay for this film as well.) As is usually the case for LDS Cinema flicks, Mobsters and Mormons is scheduled to slowly expand its release to eventually play in most of the major cities across the United States over the next few months.

The film is your basic fish-out-of-water story. It stars Mark DeCarlo (the voice of Hugh Neutron in Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius) as Carmine "The Beans" Pasquale, a mobster who is forced to make a deal with the FBI to testify against his boss, Angelo Marcello, played by Michael Kagan (The West Wing).

Of course, this means that Marcello's hit men, including Little Nicky Cappuccio, played by Joe Maruzzo (The Sopranos) will be looking for Pasquale, so he and his wife and son - played by Jeanette Puhich (Someone Was Watching) and Clayton Taylor (Christmas Mission, The Robin Hood Gang) respectively - enter the Federal Witness Protection Relocation Program and are moved to Utah.

Clearly this is not the ideal situation for a man whose nickname comes from his particular fondness for coffee made from a very specific brand of gourmet coffee beans, which he even grinds himself. But finding a "good cup of coffee" in a state filled with Latter-day Saints is not the worst of Pasquale's challenges. He and his family simply do not fit in with the conservative Utah culture.

It is not long before the Pasquales - or rather the "Cheesemans" to use the cover name given to them by the FBI - are ostracized by most everyone in the neighborhood. Pasquale, himself, hardly seems to care, but it does cause considerable difficulty for his wife and son who basically just want to fit in.

It turns out that there is one family in the neighborhood that does try to befriend them in the face of what really seems like insurmountable odds. Scott Christopher (The Best Two Years) plays Michael Jaymes, the first counsellor in the ward who finds himself under the heavy burden of leading the ward for an extended period of time when the bishop is suddenly called away on a family emergency. Feeling the responsibility of his position, Brother Jaymes and his wife, Kate, played by an actually pregnant Britani Bateman (The R.M.), make a concerted effort to make the Pasquale family feel welcome in their new home.

Principal Characters

Aside from Saints and Soldiers, in which the uniquely LDS elements were minimal, this is the first LDS Cinema film in which the principal characters are not members of the church. Other films, even as early as God's Army and Brigham City, have had minor non-LDS characters to provide an opportunity for the filmmakers to explain plot elements that members of the church might take for granted but that would be new to nonmembers, but no previous film has based the entire premise of the film on the main characters observing church members from an outsider's point of view, which in some ways is astounding since when you think about it, this is a perfectly logical approach to take.

In a lot of ways, having nonmember main characters seems to be a better vehicle for Moyer's particular comic writing style. A veteran of stand-up comedy, in films like The Singles Ward and The R.M., Moyer's bend towards the sarcastic has been offensive to some in the past (although certainly not everyone), but coming from the mouth of a non-LDS character (and a mobster at that) his comic observations about Mormon culture somehow come off a bit less acidic.

Also, perhaps because the main characters are LDS, the entire comic tone of the film is less silly than The Singles Ward and The R.M., which is a nice improvement. When about 2/3 of the way through the film the tone temporarily takes a more serious tone - a virtual requirement of the Halestorm Entertainment formula - it actually works this time around, instead of killing any momentum the film had built up.

A Bit Too Far

That isn't to say that there will not be some who will feel that this film goes a bit too far in its criticism of Mormon culture. Near the end of the film, many of the ward members are portrayed as going a bit overboard in a way that is neither really believable nor does it seem to be intended as funny - to reveal exactly how this takes place would spoil some of the plot elements.

Suffice it to say that it becomes quite clear that Moyer has a point to make, but his approach at this point may seem to some a bit heavy-handed, and at the very least the effort to present a moral lesson forces the story into some plot twists that don't quite ring true to the characters or to Mormon culture.

Still, in my opinion, this is Moyer's best script so far. While funny, it is not overly goofy, and the storytelling is much more consistent and even keel than his past efforts. The Pasquale family, in particular, seems to pass through some nice, well-motivated character development, and while many of the minor characters - both among the Mormons and among the mob - are merely stereotyped caricatures, there is enough of interest in the natural growth and development of the three members of the Pasquale family to keep the story moving smoothly and naturally.

DeCarlo's acting really steals the show. His over-the-top portrayal of the Pasquale father is the best reason to go see this film. At first, his performance seems a bit too obnoxious. In fact, Pasquale is so obnoxious that it's hard to like him as a character, which is a dangerous thing to do to your main character. But then, about 2/3 of the way through the film, the audience finally gets a glimpse of the man's human side, and at this point, it is actually the subtlety of DeCarlo's performance that manages to win the audience over.

Unfortunately, although the film is filled with decent performances, none of the other actors quite rise to the same level, and he ends up completely dominating every scene he is in. In particular, it would have been nice to see Christopher - whose performances I usually love - play some of his scenes a bit stronger to provide some balance to DeCarlo and make the developing friendship between the two more believable.

On the other hand, this film, together with some recent LDS Cinema films like The Best Two Years, Saints and Soldiers and The Work and the Glory, represent a continued improvement in the acting overall of locally produced films. Part of this is due to the decision to use more seasoned actors. Several of the faces appearing in the film in minor roles will be familiar to theatergoers, especially from their recurring roles on various television series from Everwood to The Sopranos.

In the end, this is a fun film and good, lighthearted, wholesome entertainment. In my mind, this is really what LDS audiences want - a film they can relax and watch and have fun without having to worry what scene might pop up in front of their four-year-old's face or what swear word they might wish they could have beeped out next. So, I imagine it ought to do well - or at least as well as the average LDS Cinema film. Mobsters and Mormons is rated PG for mild thematic elements, some language and violence.

To take the next step...

All in all, Mobsters and Mormons is a decent film and successful effort for a first-time director. While not perfect, it continues the noted improvement in films being produced by the LDS Cinema movement. So what do I think LDS filmmakers can do to move their efforts up to that "next level" where a film can be called "really good" or even "great"? Well, I do have one observation. It won't fix a poorly written script or turn bad acting into good. But at some level it does make a difference.

 Let me put it this way: The beauty of great art is in the details. Nowhere is this more true than in cinema. In my mind this, above all, is what seems to set apart a merely adequate film from the really good ones. Of course, it's difficult to do on a shoestring budget with an insanely short production schedule, which is what these productions are having to deal with now.

Let me illustrate what I mean. It's a small thing, but at one point in the film the main characters are attending a ward activity in the cultural hall and I suddenly found myself distracted by the realization that every single person in the cultural hall was sitting down. No one was walking around in the background. No one was chasing their two-year old who was running off giggling with a handful of green jello. It was the most uniform, best behaved ward activity I had ever seen. It must have been wonderful to shoot, because there was nothing to interfere with the focus on the main characters - but this very fact actually DID distract me from them, because the result was that it didn't feel like any ward activity I had ever been to.

This is a really minor thing. I don't think this is something that 99% of the people seeing the film are ever going to notice (unless you all go and look for it now that I've mentioned it). To set things up so that the focus can stay on the main characters and still deal with every detail whether foreground or background so that it is choreographed to precision takes a lot of time, and yes, money. But in my opinion, it is the almost fanatical attention to these smallest of details in every single scene that, in part, separates the truly professional production from the rest. Anyway, it's food for thought.

Excel-released DVD's excel...

For those who live outside of the Utah-Idaho area where Mobsters and Mormons is playing, or if you just don't feel like heading out to the theater this weekend, Excel Entertainment (now a part of Deseret Book) has just released some new offerings on DVD: American Mormon and the first of a planned series of episodes titled Junior's Giants.

American Mormon

American Mormon is a comedic documentary featuring man-on-the-street interviews in which Daryn Tufts (The Singles Ward) travels across the United States asking people what they know about the Mormons. I expected this to be a fun ride, as I knew that Tufts would be quite funny. What I didn't expect is how interesting it would also be to watch. I found it fascinating to see just what people in various parts of the country think about the Mormons.

Almost as fun and interesting as the documentary itself was to hear of Tufts and his cameraman/co-producer Jed Knudsen talk about their experiences travelling across the United States to make the documentary in the first place. Apparently, the process was literally just as simple as packing up a camera and a microphone and heading out on the road to see what they could find out.

One of the things that I really appreciated about the interviews is the way in which Tufts conducts them. There is no mean-spirited attempt to make the people being interviewed look stupid in the name of comedic entertainment. Instead, he seems to develop a good rapport with all of the people being interviewed and manages to make the interviews fun without doing so at the expense of those he is interviewing. This is the first documentary that Excel has ever released, but it sounds like Tufts and Knudsen have plans for additional similar documentaries and I look forward to seeing what else the pair has in store.

Junior's Giants

This film is another first for Excel Entertainment - their first animated DVD release. A first glance at the animation that has more akin with the flannel board stories that were used in Primary when I was a child than with a Pixar-produced feature belied just how surprisingly delightful and entertaining this film was going to be. The premise of the series of videos is that an intelligent and creative young boy named Junior Anderson learns in primary that he will face his own giants, much like David faced Goliath. Of course, these giants will be metaphorical, not real giants, but Junior doesn't seem to quite latch on to the metaphorical thing. (It would help if he really understood what the word meant.)

Instead, Junior ends up fighting real giants - at least in his imagination - while he takes on the challenges that could keep him from living a faithful Christian lifestyle. In episode one, the giant is actually a Scottish midget named Tude - short for attitude. But when Junior lets his temper get the best of him, that midget turns into one of the most invincible giants you can imagine.

Junior's Giants is a fun concept, and the story is told in a catchy, fast-paced manner that is endearing to both children (with their short attention spans) and adults (with their own usually short attention spans when it comes to children's entertainment). The script is especially witty and the characters are delightfully quirky, from Junior's father who has enters the house each day when he comes home from work and asks, "How's that toilet working?" to Junior's enterprising older sister Celia, his hyperorganized mother and his baby brother Little Man who collects spoons and somehow keeps finding ways to do things that are either dangerous or painful ... or both.

The film passes a lot of tests. It passes the quotability test. Already my family goes around saying things like, "That looks dangerous ... and painful." It also passes the repeat watchability test. As any parent of a young child knows, any video worth buying had better be worth seeing over and over and over again, because children tend to want to do just that. Our four-year-old has watched the film numerous times and I'm glad to report that his parents have still managed to keep their sanity, which goes a long way toward helping a film get approval in my book.

The best part is that although this is a children's flick, it is entertaining for adults as well. Sesame Street got this formula right years ago. Make it entertaining for everyone - even tell jokes that might go right over the young ones' heads. It will keep the parents watching - along with the kids - and everyone will end up happy.

The one thing I don't know about this film is how well it gets its message across. It is certainly entertaining. But whether the children actually learn, for example, some keys to controlling their temper is not as clear. Of course, when it comes to teaching young children, sometimes it's difficult to tell what is sticking and what is not. It doesn't hurt that the kids seem to enjoy the video enough to want to watch it lots of times, and it does seem probable that if they watch it enough, they also just might learn something. But how effective that actually will be is tough to gauge.

The are also a couple of spots where the film gets just a little too weird, such as when the giant appears in 70's-influenced getup complete with goldfish in his shoes (I'm not sure where that comes from) and sings a strange little song that I guess is supposed to teach the moral of the story or something. I'm not quite sure how it fits in. Still, all-in-all it is a fun, energetic production that not only isn't irritating for parents, it might actually get them involved in the story as much as the kids.

A final word...

It's great to have some new LDS Cinema productions on the horizon to look forward to. Just around the corner are the second Work and the Glory film and (finally) Richard Dutcher's God's Army sequel. It's strange to realize that the second Work and the Glory film will be out in just over a month. That is one quick turnaround in production, since the first film came out merely a year ago.

Speaking of rapid production schedules, the makers of the Liken the Scriptures series of musical direct-to-video productions have recently announced that they will now be releasing a new episode in the series every couple of months. On the one hand, it's good to see that there is enough of a demand in the LDS market to justify such rapid-fire releases. On the other hand, all of this hurried production tends to worry me when it comes to discussing the quality of these productions. My biggest concern with the second Liken the Scriptures episode was that it seemed to me that they rushed the project into production far too quickly. I wanted them to spend more time working out the kinks in their productions, rewriting the script, polishing the songs and working out the details of the choreography and its relationship to camera movement, not less.

Remember, the beauty of art is in the details. And there are no shortcuts to working out those details - at least none that work. It simply takes time.