Mobsters and Mormons

It was one big old culture shock for Mark DeCarlo and his family in Mobsters and Mormons. The cheerful hit-man who has run afoul of his former associates is now in witness protection. But what a place they've relocated him to. A small town in Utah where 98% of the populace is of the LDS church. The man just can't relate to those folks although at least one neighboring family headed by Scott Christopher does their best to make him feel at home.

These folks operate on a whole set of different values than DeCarlo's been brought up to believe. And poor DeCarlo can't get a decent pizza and his craving for real coffee nearly gets him and his family killed.

It's an interesting idea for a comedy, but sadly lacking verisimilitude. Witness protection has had almost as many failures as successes. The most notable example of that was Sammy 'the Bull' Gravano who while in witness protection got involved in a few local rackets of his own creation. Those folks don't think like most of us relatively normal gentiles let alone those of the LDS faith. It's a gulf of the minds I think is almost impossible to cross.

Still Mobsters And Mormons has a few good moments, my favorite is DeCarlo giving some young kids the gangland New Jersey version of the Three Little Pigs. I wish the film had more moments like those.

Mark DeCarlo was excellent as Carmine "The Beans" Pasquale. My whole family loved this humorous movie, from my 9 year old on up. We laughed throughout the whole film. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone in need of a good laugh. The rest of the cast was delightful. Jeanette Puhich, in her role as Mrs. Pasquale , reminded me of "Guys and Dolls". She and Mark did an excellent job of poking fun of at the stereotype of the mob. It's also good to see that the Latter Day Saint population can also poke fun at themselves. Speaking as a member of the church, this movie probably appeals more to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints because we can see how silly we are sometimes. There was a similar movie made earlier with Steve Martin as a mobster in the witness protection program. I love Steve Martin, but Mobsters and Mormons did a much better job. This movie was great!

This movie is great fun! The actors are great, the points for both Mormons and non-Mormons are great (and not preachy, except maybe to some uppity Mormons, who are given a great picture of themselves), and the story is just hilarious.

I was glad to see some new actors in this one. Yeah, some of the same-old recycled typical Mo-actors were there, but there were some great new faces to enjoy, and not at all bad actors.

My only complaint: the filming was WAYYYyyy uneven. In the beginning and sprinkled throughout some of the scenes seem to have been shot on a hand-held standard (i.e. not movie-quality) video camera, and it shows.

Yeah, it's cheesy - but it's good clean fun. I gave it a 7 because it's definitely a good movie, family-safe, though not a great classic.

First of all, I liked the movie. But there were times I just felt like crying rather than laughing.

It's just too stupid at times. The movie could have been so much better! I didn't like the fact that we never heard about the Mormons beliefs(I find them the silliest in the world), but I guess people in the US wouldn't be ready for some "making fun of a religion."

However, the movie manages to show two opposite sides of a spectrum; mobster and Mormon, angry VS happy, good VS evil...continue to tired...

Overall: OK+ movie, because it makes me want a Mormon girl, teach her a thing or two about life AND sex!

I'll admit that the title might incline people to place it in the category of those other Mormon movies that are kind of preachy and just for Mormons. But as the saying goes: "Don't judge a book by its cover" and all that jazz.

I went into this film with some of my family from Utah and with a dreading attitude. I was expecting there to be 2,000 jokes I wouldn't get and that only those involved deeply in the Mormon church would get...I was wrong.

As the movie starts we're introduced to Carmine, an ambitious Italian-American mobster who is climbing the crime ladder of success until the Feds finally get some dirt on him and bring him in. In the process, he cuts a deal with them, rats a few people out, and him, his wife and teenage son are put in the Witness Protection Program and sent to a model Mormon Utah neighborhood as the "Cheesemans."

And with this culture some enjoyable comedy follows as Carmine's family adjusts to the way things are run: Carmine can't get a decent cup of coffee or grasp the fact that Mormons don't drink or "have fun"; his son steals a Mormon minister's satellite dish, and goes out for wrestling, thinking that it's mandatory to whack the other guy in the face; and his wife makes the mistake of ordering a pizza with pineapple which results in Carmine leaving to go eat somewhere else and her downing an entire bottle of wine and passing out.

I found myself laughing at a lot of the jokes, even though they played on Mormon, Christian, and Italian-American stereotypes. This movie doesn't just appeal to Mormons or Christians, it can be enjoyed by almost anyone.

So overall, a good comedy for the whole family. A little cheesy at times, but very enjoyable and comes out on top with a good message. If it comes to a theater near you, check it out. *** out of *****