I watched God’s Army again last night, for the second time (the first was shortly after it came out, I think). Not States of Grace, mind you — I’m waiting for it to come out on DVD. :) Anyway, God’s Army was…well, I’m not quite sure what I think. My main qualm with it was that even those who are supposed to be most spiritual — the mission president, let’s say, and of course Elder Dalton — still don’t seem to have the same light in their countenances as I’ve seen in followers of Christ who really put the Lord first. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s not there. And that bothered me. Nor did it seem to be a particularly accurate portrayal of missionary life. That may have been because my mission (Thailand) was different from his (Los Angeles). Quite possible. For most of the movie I felt somewhat uncomfortable, basically, even though I was trying not to. The feeling of goodness just wasn’t there — it was like taking missionary life and sucking the spirit out of it. (Note that this is not including the stuff at the end.)
On the positive side, I was quite moved by the parts where E. Dalton heals Benny and where E. Dalton dies. (On the latter, I think I just happen to get moved any time someone dies in a non-action flick.) Many movies seem to be this way — generally not-so-good, but with certain parts that are very effective. It’s not a great work of art, to be sure. Mormon cinema has yet to produce something truly, truly great. We’re getting there, but not quite yet.
[tags]LDS, Mormon, film, God’s Army, Richard Dutcher, Mormon cinema[/tags]
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