One Man's Treasure

Although the plot is somewhat hokey, I rather enjoyed One Man's Treasure because I got an insight into the Latter Day Saints young missionaries and their shared experiences. For what it is supposed to do it is an effective teaching tool about the faith. Having actually had a couple of Mormon missionaries over at my house a couple of weeks ago, One Man's Treasure was a nice insight to their private lives.

Three pairs of missionary young people stumble on to a cryptic message in a locked cellar of their new home in Bristol, Pennsylvania. Two pairs are men and one pair are young women and all are intrigued by this message which says there is a great treasure to be found at the end of the search.

The primary focus is on two of them who just don't cotton to each other. Darin Southam and Charan Prabhakar just don't get along, Southam is the head of the household and one who believes in the rules, Prabhakar who is from Pakistan has a more laid back attitude. During the course of the film we learn about both of them from the others and the experience of the hunt binds them closer.

My favorite scenes in One Man's Treasure are the domestic ones, the missionaries in an around their own house seeing the various rules of their faith they deal with. I wasn't converted by any means, but it was a great insight into the Mormon missionary experience.

As for the treasure and the experiences that make Prabhakar and Southam the people they are you have to watch the film. And if you are not an LDS member and are willing to approach it with an open mind I think you can enjoy this film on a certain level. It's a lot better than some of the Christian evangelical films I've seen and reviewed.

Neat movie, a lot of good lessons, and a lot of good interaction among the characters. Several of the actor were pretty good. The SJ / NP conflict between the two main characters was spot-on!. That's the kind of realisticOn top of everything else, the scenery in Bristol is gorgeous.

Mormon cinema attempts to create it's own version of National Treasure (a team of people following clues to find hidden treasure) in this movie.

Okay, the acting is not the best and the story is not the greatest. It was, however, better than some of the really bad Mormon cinema (Out of Step, The Home Teachers, Church Ball) and not as good as others (The Singles Ward, The Errand of Angels, The Best Two Years).

The craft needs time to grow and develop and movies like this are going to come out in the process. It can make for an enjoyable Family Home Evening, but will never win any Oscars.

Understandably, you are going to hate this film if you are not LDS.

(2009) One Man's Treasure ADVENTURE

The Mormon Christian equivalent to "National Treasure", the "DaVinci's Code" or the CBS show the "Amazing Race" in which one of the so-called elder Christians inadvertently discovers a piece of a clue, and are then paired into three different groups to compete to what lurks to the end. Like a made for TV movie of the week.

The director of the film, by the name of John Lyde, is also credited for four other positions as well according to imdb, he is also credited for 'the story', 'co-producer', 'cinematography' and for 'film editor'. It's quite a lot for a small movie.

When I watch a movie, I do take into consideration

the budget given it. To me, it is the story that matters most,

and this is a very nice Mormon story. The acting was not as bad as

reviewers lead us on to be. Have you ever watched a Keanu Reeves picture?

This is as good , acting wise. John Lyde always does a fine job with

what little financing he has to work with. I have seen huge budget

movies which are pure trash. This, by contrast, is a very sweet movie

for a very specific audience. I liked it!! It would be nice to see what John Lyde could do with a large budget, As long as it is not one of his action movies.