In "Goodbye Lover," a film-noir thriller with too many plot twists for its own good, Patricia Arquette plays a femme fatale whose double-dealings end in multiple murder, and Ellen DeGeneres is the foul-mouthed, hard-bitten police detective on the case.
The film, which played in theaters a year ago, is typical half-baked Hollywood trash, but notable as part of an unusually large string of movies and TV shows over an approximate two-year period that featured Mormon characters or made comments about Mormons . . . generally in less-than-flattering terms.
In "Goodbye Lover," DeGeneres constantly belittles her doofus partner, a Salt Lake Mormon (Ray McKinnon), whom she alternately refers to as "Brigham Young," "John Paul," "Barney Fife," "Mr. Rogers" and several names that can't be printed in a family newspaper.
In addition, there are hypocritical Mormons in "SLC Punk" and the straight-to-video "Heaven or Vegas," two made-in-Utah pictures; Mormonism and its missionary program are slammed in "Orgazmo"; Robert Downey Jr. and Heather Graham make polygamy jokes in "Two Girls and a Guy." And Mormons are the subject of simple-minded gags in "Rage," a straight-to-video thriller with Gary Busey; the Disney Channel's "Brink!"; and the off-the-wall "Godfather" spoof, "Mafia!"
Meanwhile, TV sitcoms "The Simpsons" and "The Hughleys" made Mormon jokes, while "Frasier" featured a goody-goody LDS character who just wasn't ruthless enough to be a good show-biz agent. And "Walker, Texas Ranger" had a flashback episode with Chuck Norris rescuing a Mormon wagon train from bad guys.
And that's just circa 1998-99!
Using Mormons as fodder for cinematic ridicule actually goes back to the silent era, of course. But what we've never seen in the movies is Mormons shown as real, everyday, down-to-earth people.
Until now.
"God's Army," which opened today, is an attempt to give a human dimension to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's a fictional drama (with liberal amounts of comedy) about the Mormon missionary program at work in Los Angeles.
Filmmaker/co-star Richard Dutcher says he intended to make a Mormon movie that could be embraced as universally as such Jewish-oriented cinema as "Fiddler on the Roof" (his example). But that seems unlikely. "God's Army" is very inside, and people who are not members of the LDS Church, or who are unfamiliar with Mormon culture, are not likely to understand a lot of it.
From the get-go, setting the entire movie within the two-year missionary program, with its emphasis on young men and women devoting two years of their lives to proselyting, is atypical of the lifestyle of day-to-day LDS Church membership at large. In fact, it would be easy to conclude from this film that new members are baptized only in natural waters (in this case, the Pacific Ocean) and that they never have to go to church.
On the other hand, "God's Army" would seem a natural to be embraced by the LDS audience . . . which, these days, is no small potatoes. The church members depicted here are human, warm, bright and funny. And though a number of big issues are raised, such as blacks being denied the LDS priesthood for many years, they are handled thoughtfully and tastefully.
And though there are a few too many soap-opera endings to be tied up in the final moments, the film is well-paced, the characters are rich and Dutcher lets his sense of humor shine through.
Technically, the film is also quite solid, but perhaps most surprisingly for an effort this small, even the acting is first-rate.
Is "God's Army" going to change Hollywood's stereotypical image of Mormons?
Of course not. (Take Rodney Dangerfield's upcoming "My Five Wives" . . . please.)
Should LDS people see the film and make it a success, so that more will follow?
Absolutely.
Entertainment editor Chris Hicks may be reached by e-mail at hicks@desnews.com