drew_graham1

There is a considerable amount of controversy regarding the premise and content of this show, and that is not without merit. While I agree with showing Christians as imperfect, striving people, I don't agree with making every single character on this show a stereotype, a cardboard cut-out. Putting the controversy aside, this is just a stupid show. The writing is bad, the acting is marginal, the characters are annoying and one-dimensional, and the conflicting themes and messages just don't make it worth it.

The idea of making Jesus contemporary, and discussing things regularly with Daniel could have been interesting, but rather than making Jesus seem laid-back, interested in Daniel and his family, and, well, Jesus-like in beliefs and motivations, he comes across as bored and uninterested. The family's issues are extremely soap opera, and hardly grab the viewer's interest. We could see any one of their issues on any daytime soap (and probably at better acting with a better script, which is really saying something about this show...). Could the kids and their issues be any more contrived? The teenage daughter is selling pot to fund her ambitions for anime? The adopted son is having unapologetic and irresponsible sex with the racist neighbor's daughter, regardless of their parents' advice or their families' purported morals? The oldest son (still at home?), having buried his twin brother (Cancer victim), bemoaning his woes as a gay Christian while his dad blindly and uneducatedly looks on, and complains about having to date the girl he met at choir instead of her cute brother (who, incidentally, never implied he was interested)? Not to mention the parents and their silly issues, dealing with a slew of other unsavory issues like making public their sex life, the lesbian widow sister, and the adulterous yet narrow-minded father having an affair with the female priest. Come on, it's just absurd. Also, why did they have to cram EVERY single issue into the first episodes? It's almost as if they knew it was going to be cancelled and wanted to get their say in as soon as possible.

Also, they spout off a lot of lies about society and issues, which go unchallenged, and thus teach society (and impressionable people who believe everything they hear about issues like homosexuality and religion) things that aren't necessarily true.

Basically, it's the worst kind of mix between the fluff, faux spirituality and idiotic plots of 7th Heaven and the sex, drama and ridiculous ideas behind The O.C., with the acting and writing from both, no combination of which could possibly equal something worth watching.

For those faint of heart, weak of character, or poor in spirit, be careful with this film. It handles heavy issues, tackles serious drama, and has definite PG-13 material. But it also illustrates compassionately and expertly the atoning power of Christ, the amazing strength that can come from relying on Him in our imperfect, human state, and turning to Him in repentance, feeling His love, regardless of the mistakes we've made.

This was a gritty, realistic look at many of the issues young people (especially missionaries) face today. It doesn't try to hide the evil, but it does keep the Spirit and the Gospel of peace, hope and repentance far more prominent. It doesn't condescend or submit to cheap laughs and religious stereotypes, as many LDS-made films do, but rather, as Dutcher has a magnificent habit of doing, it focuses on what the Gospel is really about. It doesn't pretend that sin isn't sin, it recognizes fully when wrong has been done, and when further wrong is done in an attempt to rectify it. This film indicates the only real solution to any problem, the power of Christ. To those who grimace at the reverent and appropriate use of ordinances and the like in Dutcher's movies, get past your letter-of-the-law cultural mindset and take a look at the Gospel, and listen to the Spirit.

Technically, this film is as admirable and noteworthy as many films made nowadays. Where Dutcher finds such incredible actors is beyond me, as is how he manages to get such powerful and moving performances out of them. It's artistic, it's dramatic, but it's real and feels like a situation that you've seen before. The use of Sam Cardon's music was effective, and the one or two throwbacks to God's Army were enjoyable. Especially noteworthy was how this film didn't downplay any religion, but rather lifted up the importance of believing and relying on Christ.

I laughed, I cried, and then I cried some more. Everyone who finds their way to this review, PLEASE do what you need to do to see this incredible film. It will make you grateful that we have a Savior to turn to when we know we've done the wrong thing. I only wish I could give this film 11 stars. Bravo, Richard. You've done it again.

First off, I'm really surprised at the almost all positive reviews for this film. I mean, it was OKAY, but far from good, and definitely not even in the top three of its kind so far. I really do care about the growing popularity of LDS-made films. While some are ridiculous (The Book of Mormon Movie, The Home Teachers) and some are sublime (God's Army, Brigham City), some, like The Best Two Years, manage to find their place somewhere in the middle. As for me, I had relatively low expectations for The Best Two Years, especially since it almost seemed to be marketed as a cheap rip-off of God's Army, and I was still disappointed.

First of all, technically, this film left a little to be desired. Some of the cinematography and direction was nice (when they actually decided to hold the camera still... I mean, I'm all for the steady cam techniques, but give the audience a rest every once in a while! It can be nauseating, almost to the point of The Blair Witch Project!), but the acting was wooden and the dialogue unbelievably drippy. The characters were non-believable, mostly annoying boors with shallow problems and no resolutions, not to mention a noticeable lack of character arcs. The script was drippy, full of Mormon clichés, inside jokes, stereotypes, and other forms of cultural fluff that don't actually mean anything, delivered by mediocre actors (mostly, I suspect, due to the silly material they were handed in the script). The plot was contrived and, as stated before, almost a direct copy of God's Army, but without the endearing characters and believable camaraderie.

But more importantly absent are meaningful themes. They really tried to make this film actually MEAN something, but the characters' trite and shallow problems were resolved through completely temporal means, such as hard work and doing the work to get statistics and numbers. This is ABSOLUTELY not what missionary work is about. They really tried to make it have some reliance on Christ, but nowhere did they actually realize that the most important thing you can learn on a mission is the realization of your personal relationship with Jesus Christ, how it affects those around you, and how it can last the rest of your life. Ultimately, the cliché "the best two years of my life" (which I hate, by the way) is a misnomer. What you learn on a mission should lead to a lifetime of growing closer to Christ. EVERY year after the mission should be the best year of your life. I mean, really, apply what you learned and spread Christ's love everywhere you go, not just in the mission field! This film seemed to be seriously lacking in this. It seemed to me that the theme was work hard so you can convert people and hand out lots of Book of Mormons (notice I didn't say Books of Mormon... Really, copies of the Book of Mormon would be more appropriate, but The Book of Mormon is the title of the book, so that's what you pluralize. You wouldn't say Prides and Prejudice, would you? Judes the Obscure? The Pictures of Dorian Gray? Sorry, that just really bugged me...). And can I just ask WHY the Mission President even visited their apartment? He was just suddenly THERE, like some kind of warden who magically appeared to give the boys some scriptural "medicine" and then leave, only to call from the car and ask to see one of the boys down on the street... but WHY???

Can you do this in a movie? Just pose a plot question and then ignore it?

Is this what Mormons have really come to call good? Maybe compared to the latest drivel from Halestorm, this was pretty passable. Cultural fluff is better-received than real Gospel topics portrayed in film... Ah well, such is life.

For those who REALLY want to know what a mission or the Gospel is like, I recommend Richard Dutcher's as yet unsurpassed transcendental film work in God's Army and Brigham City.