Mobsters & Mormons
Grade: |
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Plot Summary:
The Pasquale family is forced to move to Utah as part of the Witness Protection Program. Do you think their Italian mafia background will cause conflicts within a strait-laced Mormon community? (For comedy's sake, you'd better hope so...) Much culture shock ensues...
Opinion:
The frustration of LDS filmmakers can be evident everywhere you look...and with good reason, too. Budgets are tight, which affects the quality of the finished film, which lowers the number of people who will see the movie, which hampers the funding for the next movie since no one went to see the first, which creates even lower budgets, which...well, you get the picture.
Since LDS pictures don't play well outside of Utah, and within Utah many members of the target audience (those with small kids...like me) tend to just wait for the DVD anyway, the prospect for financial success is limited. It's easy to sympathize with their struggles...except that as long as a ticket to an LDS film (like "Mobsters and Mormons") costs exactly the same amount as a ticket to a "Lord of the Rings" or a "Star Wars" movie, you must be held to the same standards. (Case in point: We saw exactly three movies in the theater during 2005: Episode III, Batman Begins, and King Kong. How likely was it, do you think, that--say--M&M would be the fourth? Seriously... See what I mean?)
The solution is relatively simple: LDS cinema needs well-written movies. Writing is the one aspect of filmmaking that is unaffected by low budgets. Good writing--strong characters, sharp dialogue and a compelling narrative--will overcome spotty acting and production values, and can attract movie-goers who may or may not have had an inherent interest in the movie's subject matter beforehand (a stumbling block when trying to get 'crossover' appeal for a movie that has "Mormons" in the title...)
LDS films will never be able to offer fantastic special effects and A-list movie stars, but well written movies that are sharp, compelling, and clever are LDS films' best chance at success. Plus, the inherent spiritual component of an LDS film opens up a wide variety of deep experiences that have the potential to have tremendous and long-lasting impacts upon viewers. I'm still waiting, though, for the post "God's Army/Best Two Years" LDS movie that has the one-two punch of writing quality and spiritual impact that will demand the attention of the movie-going public and maximize the potential of LDS cinema.
And...I'm still waiting. "Mobsters & Mormons" isn't it, and in the end it's not the low budget, but rather--a few good laughs and clever ideas aside--it's the writing that kills it.
M&M is essentially a one-joke comedy--which isn't an unforgivable sin if that one joke happens to be a good one. In this case, the idea of a New York mobster living in Utah has some good comic potential, but not enough to carry an entire film. In the only role in the movie where the performance really matters, George (aka Carmine "The Beans" Pasquale) is played with attitude and panache by Mark DeCarlo in one of those over-the-top roles that actors love (one that's genuinely fun to perform...if not necessarily to watch). If George's personality becomes wearing over the course of the movie (which it does) it's less because the performance is lacking, but rather because his character doesn't have any support, and he's forced to carry too many of the scenes on the shoulders of 'personality'. Other than George's character arc, none of the other subplots amount to anything worth caring about (the relationship between George's son and Brother Jaymes's high school age sister, for example, doesn't carry any weight.)
Many of the scenes involving George are quite good--his flirting with the sisters at church is a gem, and his verbal riffs with the local Saints upon moving in has some good moments as well. Other scenes have potential but are poorly paced--George reading the bedtime story to the kids, George shaking down the scrapbook businesses, George and his son extracting 'information' from the paint-ball kid--all of these have good ideas, but take far too long to develop and don't have enough of a payoff at the end. (I didn't even understand the 'guinea pig' reference until I read on EricDSnider.com a day later that 'guinea' is a derogatory term for Italians. Oh.)
Most damning, though, is the shallow characterizations of the other LDS characters surrounding the Cheeseman family. Sister Means (the town gossip and resident "That's so inappropriate" woman) is so broadly drawn her scenes become difficult to watch. (The encounter between her and Sister Jaymes at the mailbox is particularly bad) Ditto for the family across the street who refuses to associate with the new move-ins. (Coldness, sure... Hiding in their house and then running to their car to leave so they don't have to share a word or a glance with the displaced mobster family? I think not... This falls in the limbo realm of 'too exaggerated to be realistic, but not exaggerated enough to be funny').
Without strong characters, the ending--where we are lectured about acceptance and charity--attempts to push across a lesson that it hasn't fully earned. By setting up cartoonish caricatures for its antagonists, the film fails to have an emotional impact on the audience. To really understand the problem of tolerance you need characters that seem like people you know--or, even better, seem like you, so you can ponder your own areas for self-improvement in accepting and loving others. Alas, the flawed characterizations and lack of subtlety in the dialogue will allow six-years-olds watching this movie during Family Home Evening to get the point, but adults will probably end up rolling their eyes...
Films like "Mobsters & Mormons" are kind of a 'treading water' release--that don't succeed nearly enough as previous LDS releases in either the comedic or dramatic areas. Mediocre films just aren't going to cut it if the LDS genre has any hope of overcoming the stacked odds against them and transcend the boundaries of Utah into notable film status. While somewhat enjoyable as a one-off rental that is quickly forgotten about, it's not focused or ambitious enough to generate the enthusiasm and love that can push a film (LDS or otherwise) into one that you'll share with your friends and family members, and make the impact on the film industry that LDS filmmakers are hoping for.
Content Analysis: (PG)
The mafia lifestyle is rife with naturally R-rated material, and while Mobsters & Mormons is strictly PG it hints at some R-rated behavior which kids may have questions about. ("Mommy, what happens to those guys they tape up and stick in the trunk?"). A minor point... Honestly, I'm not sure how familiar Mormons in general are supposed to be with Italian mafia culture. "You've Got Mail" made the joke that every male in the country has seen "The Godfather" series...although (as it happens) I haven't. Are episodes of "The Sopranos" a commonly seen occurrence on the TVs of Utah families? I mentioned the 'guinea pig' reference went over my head--how many in this film's target demographic will actually understand it? The most exposure a lot of us will have to mobster culture is from Fat Tony and his gang from the Simpsons ("I don't get mad...I get stabby!") All things considered, I'm wondering if the mafia world isn't a little too nebulous a concept within LDS society to make an effective comedy mixing both cultures...
In-depth Analysis:
Inside of "Mobsters & Mormons" with its slapstick comedy about mobsters who talk about taking care of 'that thing' and pretending to be Robert De Niro, I sensed a good drama fighting to get out. The inherent conflict between the lifestyle of a mobster and the lifestyle of a faithful Latter-Day Saint has great dramatic potential--more than just the framework for a standard 'fish-out-of-water' comedy.
Imagine a mafia man whose entire adult life has been a constant string of felonies ranging from extortion to assault (even murder). Suppose that man meets the missionaries one day and--against all odds--decides to forsake his previous life and be baptized. (Not realistic, you think? Read about a similar story here...)
Suppose he moves to Utah and starts a new life amongst a bunch of life-long Church members. His earlier friends (and many family members too) have abandoned him due to his sudden change in philosophy, so he starts his new life alone. He's hopeful that his new Church member neighbors will fill the void by being friendly and supportive throughout this difficult transition period, but is disappointed when many of them refuse to associate with him because he's different. In addition, many Church members openly wonder if he really has repented and forsaken of his earlier lifestyle, and is not, in fact, a wolf in sheep's clothing bringing wickedness and misery to their lovely little utopia.
And perhaps they're right--because as he attempts to find ways to support himself and his family legitimately, he is constantly beset by temptations--remnants from his earlier life that he has to struggle to keep buried. Knowing all the things he's committed in the past (and may yet commit in the future), he finds it difficult to truly forgive himself for his past and completely accept the healing power of the Atonement.
And, amongst all these personal trials, there's always the fear--buried but always present--that his past is going to catch up with him one day and his life will be in danger from the denizens of the underworld in which he used to inhabit...
I don't know about you, but this sounds like a GREAT premise for a spiritually powerful and challenging movie. How about it, Halestorm?
Random Notes & Comments:
(1) Yes, there are a lot of Catholics in Utah. The scenes with the nearly empty church are (a) not realistic, (b) not particularly funny either, and (c) probably insensitive to boot...(2) Britani Bateman (Sister Jaymes) really was pregnant during filming, which just became part of her character. (I imagine they had to cut down on her big action scenes, though... :)
