Charly

I really wanted to like this film. The premise has potential and the actress playing Charly is good. Unfortunately, this movie is basically a recruiting film for the Mormon church.

The story could be summarized: Sophisticated New York girl arrives in Salt Lake City, meets geekie (think "Palm Pilot") country boy at airport and within two days, regularly attends church, reads Book of Mormon, says she believes it and starts calling other women "sister."

There are much more subtle ways to make your point. I have no problem with a member of the LDS Church producing a positive, uplifting movie that promotes his personal beliefs. Just wish it had been identified that way on the jacket.

I was disappointed that the story seemed to take a back seat to pushing the religious message. If the viewer already is "in the fold," this will probably be enormously satisfying. Others may feel like they've been duped. I didn't think it was worth the $9 admission I had to pay. My fault for going to a movie that wasn't reviewed in the paper, haha.

Actually, I thought Heather Beers' performance was outstanding, as was that of the woman who played her artist-grandmother, but the other characters were shallow and underdeveloped, especially the leading man, who had a lot of screen time and should have come through with more depth . . . but then I don't think that was the goal of the movie. The message is, "If you accept the church, your life will have more meaning."

This is a wonderful movie and makes us think to not take things for granted. A tear jerker worth watching , have hankies ready. The acting was great and there are funny moments also. I would highly recommend this movie and hope they make more good ones like this.

I loved this movie. It made you feel like change is possible and you can accomplish anything with God's help. It helped me to believe that God does hear and answer our prayers and that we shouldn't judge people by the way they look or act. Go see this movie it is truly a life changing experience. You won't regret it. Take kleenex's

Cynics may say that the movie intends to tell everyone to join the Mormon Church. The main character's decision to join or not only occurs in the first half of the movie. The rest deals with the relationship between Charly and Sam, including the arguments, hardships and tragedies that happen IN SPITE OF their faith. To me, that's what makes the movie such a good idea: sure, the main characters talk about baptism, but they do it with personality, and they never turn to the camera and say that the Mormon church is for everyone. I call that tasteful. I was especially impressed with the supporting characters, like Charly's grandmother and the fiancée. The parts were well-acted, and fleshed out the story nicely. The questions and ideas this movie proposes about life are just as difficult and commonly asked today as they were when the original book was written. While you watch the movie be sure to accept that some people actually choose to believe in something.