Outlaw Prophet: Warren Jeffs

I've heard from Mormon people, both apostate and in good standing that polygamy itself was to be a temporary condition in order to grow the newly found church. Still a lot of people found that quite distasteful and Utah was not admitted as a state until 1897 when the church formally abolished it. Still there are some old believers out there and Outlaw Prophet: Warren Jeffs is the story of one of them.

Tony Goldwyn plays Warren Jeffs who upon the death of his father became the high potentate of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints a breakaway group that still practices polygamy. The father Rulon Jeffs played by Martin Landau was as megalomaniacal, but had a certain sense of discretion that the son never inherited.

Being the prophet has its perks including choosing some nice young wives for yourself and selected cronies. As he started reserving jail bait for himself and friends it got to the attention of law enforcement. After that he and his sect became fugitives with Warren Jeffs on the FBI's most wanted list.

Goldwyn and Landau and the rest of the cast turn in good performances, but I found the film to be sensational and exploitive given its subject matter which was treated quite superficially.