Brigham City

First and foremost, Brigham City is a murder mystery. But it's also a story about how a murder can make victims of everyone who lives in a small town that is supposed to be safe.

While Brigham City is set in a predominantly Mormon town in Utah, but it could just have easily been any small town in America and the people could have been of any faith (or none at all). The people of the town feel safe and secure. No one locks they're doors. Everyone knows everyone else. Then their sense of security is shattered by a spree of vicious murders. Suddenly everyone is on his guard and quick to distrust those they have trusted for years.

The plot of Brigham City really has the feel of a traditional Hollywood thriller, the addition of Mormon culture give the film a higher level of depth. While the film is about Mormons and provides some brief glimpses into their beliefs and customs, it does not attempt to convert audience members to the LDS church.

In his second film, Richard Dutcher does an admirable job of bringing this story to the big screen. The film feels more professional and polished than his previous entry (God's Army), but at the same time doesn't feel like the typical Hollywood fare.

What works in this movie is Dutcher's attention to detail and the depth of the characters. I was pleased to see how the violence in the movie was implied rather than shown directly. I was also impressed by the casting of Wilford Brimley. There may have been a commercial reason for him being attached to the film, but his presence gave the film a feeling of familiarity.

Dutcher also makes great use of camera angles and music to cast each person as a suspect. This is also the film's low point, as it is used so much it begins to bog down the story. Non-Mormons may feel that certain points of the movie are a bit too preachy.

All in all, Brigham City is a decent movie. I don't recommend it for younger children, as some of the implied violence may be disturbing, but most people over 13 will probably be drawn into the story the same way you would a traditional Hollywood thriller.

You might ask why I (a non-Mormon) interested in seeing Brigham City. Since I manage the movie theater where the film is playing I wanted to be able to give an informed opinion about the movie. As a movie fan, I was interested to see how Brigham City stood up to other Hollywood and independent films. As a person, I was interested for the glimpse of Mormon culture the film provided.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I watched it knowing it wasn't going to be a light-hearted film, which was an advantage over many people I know who went to it thinking it was a happy ending sort of show. I must admit it was a little odd to see the goings-on of LDS church meetings and other LDS cultural aspects on the big screen, but it is territory that needs to be covered so that future movies that cover similar territory won't be weighed down with reviews about the LDS church rather than focusing on the movie at hand. I watched the DVD a second time with Richard Dutcher's audio commentary and, after that, I concluded that he is someone who is conscientious about finding the balance in film in regards to the religious issues dealt with, not too pro or too anti. I was quite amazed as to how resourceful he was, considering their meager budget he had to work with. The outcome was superb and he told the story in a simple, yet elegant way. I look forward to Mr. Dutcher's next film.

I live in Mapleton, UT where it was filmed, and am LDS. I enjoyed the movie. If you don't understand the Church's dogma then the end of the movie may not mean that much to you.

I enjoyed the suspense and liked the acting. You can say what you want about the religon and the politics but it's not much different then other places in the world. If you saw the movie Chocolat, you can see the same thing there.

For a gentile like myself, Brigham City is both a good murder mystery about a serial killer and a nice insight into a community where the Mormon culture predominates. The film is the creation of Richard Dutcher who wrote, directed, and starred in it.

Dutcher wears two hats in this film and something you're not likely to see in a gentile setting. He's both the bishop and spiritual leader of the town and the sheriff. Being that must be a unique experience, in most small town the function of the local cops is mainly breaking up bar fights and writing speeding tickets. As one of the tenets of the LDS church is non-imbibing of liquor that is something he might not have to deal with. Still Dutcher and his deputy Matthew Brown do have an influx of other kinds of people in the town engaged in the construction trade. The place is booming.

And so when a serial killer strikes the folks in Brigham City find it inconceivable that the perpetrator could be one of them. Eventually they have to explore the possibility.

When a young girl goes missing, Dutcher deputizes a bunch of people and they do a house to house search which in another setting somebody might complain about a little thing like the Constitution. He does uncover a wrongdoer, but not in the same vein of what he was looking for.

I did like the scenes very much of the everyday life in a Mormon community it gives some great insights. For instance Brown talks about saving money for various things including the mission trip his infant son will eventually make. Not something you would hear in another film.

Dutcher is an imaginative film maker and he's turned out a good one here that can be appreciated outside the state of Utah.

The worst thing about going to a mystery movie, is to have the perpetrator revealed too quickly. Brigham City is able to keep its secrets well enough that while you are convinced you know who the guilty party is, you don't find out until the last few moments of the film.

The other engaging aspect of the movie is that it also wisely utilizes both the setting (a small Utah town) and the cultural and religious traditions of the mormon church. Mormons are a group that are often denigrated and little understood by most of American Society. Dutcher is able to successfully integrate Mormon traditions of worship and belief into the plot. While some may find this to be too blatant at times, I think he is able to successfully balance his desire to use this as a backdrop for his murder mystery.

As someone who lived in Utah for about two years, I thought Dutcher was very able to capture many aspects of contemporary Rural Utah/Mormon Culture that are quite unique....so if you would like to understand a little more about mormonism, without inviting the Mormon Missionaries into your home, I think this is a great way to do it, while being entertained at the same time, by a great WHODUNIT plot.