The Oath

I'm directing this at the creator, director, producer, lead actor Darin Scott, because he will clearly read these. I wanted to like this, I was telling all my friends to go see it, then I saw it. Other reviewers have been spot on with their negative assessments, so I'll try to be constructive as well.

1. Darin, it's nice you got into shape for this movie, but apparently the whole movie is just a glamor shot for you.

2. What's with the girl bosses? The sisters don't make sense as characters, and terrible actors.

3. What was the point of having another language spoke a little bit? The ones that speak the Nephite language don't have an accent, except for Billy Zane, who sounds like Mr. Krabs 4. The soundtrack. OMG. It's well done, but it is relentless, it never stops, it's this somber, overbearing sonic landscape that never gives you a break.

5. This story had almost zero to do with Moroni other than burying the plates.

6. Darin, your acting is one note. You use pregnant pauses and slomo for effect. You don't use it constantly.

7. The editing is weird as hell. Things just jump back and forth with no connection. Like, what's with the black dog? That didn't make sense.

8. Training montage? Really? Come on dude. I guess you needed to show the breath holding training to support your escape later, but I think you just want people to see you in a speedo.

Anyone interested in Mormonism, do NOT see this movie. It won't teach you anything. The story is total fiction. This looks like a high school film project. It might have worked as a 15-20 minute short, but if I'd been watching this at home instead of spending $30 at the theater, we would have turned it off. My wife flat out fell asleep and I almost did.

Do better.

Like many, I backed this film and would love to see a Book of Mormon story brought to the big screen with broad appeal. I appreciate the director's efforts, and I know he was faced with serious obstacles in delivering this film. That being said, the script really needed some work.

I'll start with a few positives. The costume design, soundtrack, and filming location were all beautiful. That's why the three stars. The cinematography was fine, but there were too many tight shots. At times I had no idea what characters were looking at and kept hoping for a wide shot to give me context.

Unfortunately, one can't recommend a film based on music and visuals. Foremost, I first look for a compelling plot. I would've watched this had it been filmed on an iPhone and accompanied with stock music, if only the characters and plot had real substance.

The Book of Mormon explains next to nothing about this chapter in Moroni's life. But it does seem to be a sad and solitary time for Moroni. For a man who thinks he could die at any moment ("I wander whithersoever I can for the safety of mine own life" Moroni 1:3.), a romance was an odd plot to pick. I suppose it could've worked if the characters were fleshed out more. Yes, Moroni was physically alone, but why did he feel alone? What were his flaws, desires, or challenges? These things were either not clear or poorly conveyed, which leaves the character falling flat.

In short, the lackluster characters, shallow plot, some awkward dialogue, and even a couple uncomfortable scenes made me want to walk out of the theater. Maybe it was just me; the room was half full... Though I did count 3 different people checking the time during the movie.

My wife and I went on an overnight trip to the Bentonville temple and had come across an ad for this movie and decided to give it a go; The director had cast some spiritual credibility on himself by saying that he had gone through a near death experience, insinuating that a revelatory experience was what spawned this production.

I had no idea what to expect. I did have a reserved hope that the film would be a higher quality B of M production than other attempts I'd seen.

I didn't even see an attempt to portray a story from the Book of Mormon. This was a purely "made up" speculative story; a fantasy that someone created out of thin air (or maybe from mists of darkness)...

In the Book of Mormon you have a myriad of inspiring TRUE stories that could have been dramatized! Did this producer not think any of those stories were good enough? That his speculative story surpassed those actually in the book? A few examples of stories he could have portrayed that would have been TRUE and a thousand times better, and much more entertaining to boot:

-Nephi and his brothers obtaining the brass plates

• Lehi's family traveling to the promised land (the challenges, the miracles, family drama, the Liahona)

• Abinadi's testimony to King Noah and priests; and Alma's escape and ministry

• Ammon's defense of the King's servants

• Kingmen vs Freemen and Captain Moroni/Pahoran

• The Jaredites

I could go on and on. There are so many amazing stories in the Book of Mormon that it is shockingly disappointing that this producer chose this route. I was horribly disappointed. It feels like a very misguided and selfish direction was taken, with complete disregard for core audience -members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Why did I give it 2 stars instead of 1? Because Billy Zane does a great job as the villain - the only thing I liked about the movie.

If you want to look at this movie on a technical level, I encourage you to move past this review and read the many other lengthy entries. I agree with most of the ones I have read personally. I really seek only to criticize the film on terms of its faithfulness to it's stated mission and the source material it is said to be based on.

To be frank, this is not a Book of Mormon film. While it claims inspiration from the events and people recorded therein, it does very little to communicate the message of the Book of Mormon. This film did not deserve to be associated with scripture and had very little reason to. This film could have substituted characters and places for others of similar but fictitious nature and the movie would have faired much better.

The romance was totally unnecessary and it totally sidelined the importance of the "message" of the film. In spite of being a faith-based film, it was devoid of anything spiritually-minded. God and Jesus are only mentioned in passing dialogue, not the central focus of the film. This film should have shouldered the purpose of showing "unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever-And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations..."

If you are going to dramatize any portion of scripture, respect the purpose of the scriptures. These plain and precious things are precious pearls, and to make a film like this and claim association is to trample them under your feet and turn and rend the very men and women who devoted their lives to bringing truth to the earth.

Nice try, Darin Scott, you have my respect, but never do something like this again.

The Room. Samurai Cop. The Oath. These three films stand in a class of their own.

No matter which way you look at this, it's very amateur. Right off the bat, it was obvious the editing was very shoddy, and there is hideously overdone color correction throughout the entire thing. Besides some drone footage, the camera work is very bland, and there is a frustrating lack of deep focus shots, leaving any scenery just a blur in the background. The worst thing is it's irredeemably boring. Almost nothing happens, and scene to scene things are repetitive. The camera doesn't do anything interesting, and neither do the characters. The writing is as weak as the editing. It was very forced and cringey, and more than once I groaned audibly from something akin to physical pain. Lastly, and I mean no offense to the guy, but I was getting tired of seeing Darin Scott's face; he just doesn't have the charisma to justify that amount of screen time (or the number of thirst traps he wrote in for himself...).

I'm happy that the guy got to make his movie in the exact same way I'm happy for Tommy Wiseau.