God's Army

2000

Drama

3
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 54% · 13 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 70% · 2.5K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.1/10 10 1183 1.2K

missionary los angeles, california mormon mormon missionary mentor protégé relationship latter day saints

Director

Richard Dutcher Photo
Richard Dutcher

Top cast

Soledad St. Hilaire Photo
Soledad St. Hilaire as Latina
Larry Bagby Photo
Larry Bagby as Cop #1
Jennifer Christopher Photo
Jennifer Christopher as Karla
Matthew A. Brown Photo
Matthew A. Brown as Elder Allen
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
995.04 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 48 min
Seeds ...
1.8 GB
1920*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 48 min
Seeds 4

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Justin-62 6 / 10

All in all a decent film

Let me first say that I am not a member of the LDS church. In fact I am agnostic. I recommend that if you are Mormon, you skip over this review. I enjoyed watching this film. The way you enjoy listening to a lecture about an ancient civilization. The story is very simply about Mormon missionaries, with subplots that have varying degrees of creditability. This film is not a sanitized, sugar coated view of missionary life (aside from an obvious lack of profanity from those who slam the door in the face of missionaries). In fact, the opening scene of the movie consists of a drive through LA. Along the way you see tattoo parlors, strip clubs, and cops in the process of arresting a criminal. This film even contains a pair of prostitutes (don't get to excited, there is nothing going on).The films main character is Elder Brandon Allen, a 19-year-old kid from Kansas. Allen is confused about the purpose of his mission and is struggling with the collapse of his family (his mom is leaving the church and his step-dad who brought him into the church is in prison for molesting children). Brandon's companion is Elder Dalton (played very well by director Richard Dutcher), a 29-year-old missionary who is dying of brain cancer. The relationship that develops between Allen and Dalton is predictable, but at the same time has the feel of realism.There are a few scenes where we see the two missionaries attempting to share their religion with other, usually with the cliché reaction. One thing that pleased me about this movie was the definite lack of religious ideas. Sure the missionaries pray and talk about God, but we are never given any real insight in to the fundamental ideals of Mormonism. In fact the film seem so devoid of these ideals that you get the impression that Dutcher was intentionally leaving them out. Perhaps because the majority of the audience will already know them and because the "others" don't need to hear them presented by this medium. At times, God's Army starts to feel like an anti-Mormon movie. There is even a missionary who is reading books that question the validity of the ideas in the Book of Mormon.The down points of this film include a under developed relationship between Allen and a female missionary. This relationship almost feels obligatory.I was very drawn into the movie right up until the final 20 minutes. Dutcher ends the film in a way that is clearly intended to satisfy the Mormons.If you like independent film and have an open mind, I would recommend seeing God's Army. If you like to go to a movie strictly for entertainment and don't like to think about what you're watching, you might want to skip this one.
Reviewed by iamsethh 5 / 10

Anatomy of a cult

I'll grant that this movie was not as bad as I expected. I greatly admire Dutcher's making a movie on his own terms, because in these PC times, the typical response to movie stereotypes is to complain about them and not do anything. Making your own movie as an answer to them must have taken great guts. But as a rationalist, I have to say this movie is just propaganda. Dutcher also gets credit for bringing up some of the logical criticisms of the book of Mormon, but then he just dismisses them with hand waving and ridiculous justifications ("sometimes I think God gives us a few hundred reasons to believe, and just throws in a couple not to, so that we can choose for ourselves"). Ultimately, the movie decides that the issues that Elder Kinegar brings up don't really matter, as far as rational discussion - all that matters is when you want to believe so bad, go through so much mental anguish about it, until you experience a moment of insanity when you just "know" you're right. The movie also helped me realize how seemingly intelligent people can continue to not only believe in the religion, not only go on a mission, but even PAY the church to go on your mission: when you sacrifice so much.. so much of yourself, so much of your freedom, so much of your dignity, so much of your rational skepticism, then you just HAVE to believe in it to avoid the heart wrenching disappointment that would come when you realized your entire set of beliefs is absurd. Of course, you cannot deny this.. you can pretend to, you can never mention your doubts to other people, you can try to turn your brain off - that's why Utah is the Prozac capital of the world. At the end of the movie, the main character says he never found out what happened to Elder Kinegar. I know what happened to him, the same thing that happened to all my friends who are recovering Mormons - he felt a huge weight lifted from his shoulders when he left the church, then he went on to enjoy life, and wondered how he could ever have deluded himself so much as to waste so many years of his life in the church.
Reviewed by kynang 7 / 10

Integrity sets this film apart from other works in the fledgling "Mormon cinema."

The start of, and perhaps, the definitive work thus far with regards to the fledgling "Mormon cinema" movement, God's Army is an honest and worthy cinematic effort. Writer/Director/Actor/Producer Richard Dutcher tells a story he really beliefs in with honesty and passion, and although the acting and production value of the film are not up to par with his subsequent effort, Brigham City, the integrity of the film makes it far more enjoyable and far more appealing. With reference to the other works within "Mormon cinema" including Singles Ward, Brigham City and Out of Step, God's Army stands tall in comparison, the quality perhaps being reflected in a boxoffice take more than twice it's closest competitor. Singles Ward and Out of Step in particular are cheap, easy and unimaginative swill churned out to an eager, but small, target audience of Mormons starved of entertainment they can reallly call their own. These films pander to the lowest common denominator, whereas God's Armyattempts to rise above purely Mormon culture and give the world a taste of what it is like to serve a higher and unseen entity - relying purely on faith, as an insecure, young, and unlearned youth.
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