The R.M.

The R.M. has some inspired moments, and generally treats the idea of a returned missionary with humor. All of the things that go wrong are generally predictable, but expressed in a humorous way.

There are problems with the film, however. The biggest is the film's racial insensitivity. Early in the movie, Jared Phelps finds that a Chinese-American family has moved into his old home. With vaguely Asian music in the background, Mr. Wong kicks Phelps in the face. Why does the Asian-American character have to be an expert in martial arts? Why is there Asian music in the background? This might not have been an issue had there been any other Asian-American characters, but there were not.

Similarly, the Tongan exchange student in the film is named Humuhumunukunukuapua. This is the name of the Hawaiian state fish. Would a French foreign exchange student have been named Bratwurst?

Another problem with the film is the blatant ad for utahweddings.com. While presented in a slightly humorous way, it's still clear that it's an ad, and takes up at least 2 minutes of screen time.

A review here compares this movie to "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Being a Greek Mormon myself, I concur to a certain degree. The performances were good, Kirby Heyborne's facial expressions and reactions really carry the movie, Will Swenson more or less reprises his role from Single's Ward and Britani Bateman perfectly balances Mormon moral principles, in every sense, and being plain hot. The first half of the movie more than anything I felt sorry for the poor guy, although there were some good laughs, too. Most of the humor though is based on Mormon stereotypes - if You are not acquainted with that, I am afraid You will not get much out of this flick. I think that there is a message for Mormons, that righteousness always pays off, even it does not look like this at all, in the end you will ride with the hot general authorities daughter towards sunset; the message for non-Mormons IMHO is, "Mormons are an odd people, but they can laugh at themselves"

There might be some people that think this movie was bad. However, being LDS I found this movie quite entertaining, and no I am not in Utah. I have never actually lived in Utah. That's beside the point, this movie was rather funny, and if you have ever served a mission, and experienced life afterwards it pretty much hit the nail on the head with how it feels. The story although a little far fetched is not distracting and some of the Mormon stereotypes are hilarious. All-in-all this movie is a good one to add to your collection especially if you are LDS. And by the way I thought that Wally Joyner was probably the funniest person in the whole movie. The only thing funnier was the cameo appearance of Donald Trump's hair. For those of you that have not seen it, watch the movie again and look at Wally Joyner's head as Jared (Kirby H.) finds out that he doesn't have a job anymore. Although it is dyed from the normal blonde hue, you can totally tell it is Trump's toupee.

7 out of 10

I have lived in Utah for 12 years, and like another reviewer, I had seen part of this on a local TV station a couple of weeks ago, and thought what I saw was pretty funny, so I rented the DVD. The first half of the movie is hilarious! Nothing goes right for the main character after he returns from his mission to Wyoming (a big laugh right there...). My daughters and I laughed our heads off. Toward the end of the movie, the momentum was somewhat lost by the convoluted story. The movie tried to turn serious, and it came off as a bit preachy. It was a bit heavy handed toward "jack" Mormons and toward non-Mormons, as they are depicted as heavy drinkers and just all around bad people. It wasn't a bad movie, however, and we got some good laughs out of it. "Big Budah" the local radio personality did surprisingly well in his acting debut! The DVD has a lot of fun extras too. All in all, I recommend it for good family viewing and a few laughs.

Just when I imagined LDS-driven comedy had reached a maximum, having no more cracks to make on the cinematic scene, I saw the world premiere of The RM in Sandy, Utah. I found myself bent over in laughter for a majority of the film, but ultimately left the theatre wishing there was more of a story-line and actors with more talent. In comparison to the 2002 film Singles Ward, corny jokes were found without much effort; however, I found a stronger comedial aspect in The RM. I would definately see it again, but not until it reaches the dollar theatre or comes out on video. I would describe this movie as a must-see for LDS people of all ages. I rated this a 7 out of 10.