Sons of Provo

... who knew the Mormon church had such a thriving film industry? I watched the trailers that came with the DVD, and I was pretty impressed, even as a non-Mormon, at how much this one company has cranked out.

The film itself? Despite dragging in a few spots and sometimes going a bit too much over the edge with the jokes, it was great fun to watch. The songs the "boys" perform are by and large a riot, and the finale number was very moving and touching.

I'd be curious to know if the filmmakers were influenced by ALTAR BOYZ, an off-Broadway musical about a four-parts-Catholic-one-part-Jewish boy band.

I saw a screening of this movie in Los Angeles on July 15, 2004. "Sons of Provo" is thoroughly enjoyable. It is well written, acted, directed, shot and cut. I've long been wondering if I would ever see a well-done, very-low-budget independent in the Guffman-Best-In-Show pseudo-doc style. After so many that made me walk out or shut my eyes in pain, "Sons of Provo" delivered the goods in spades. 'Sons of Provo' is about two brothers in their mid-twenties who start an In Sync style boy band and rise to middling success in the small towns of Utah. Imagine laughing out loud at a movie in which the dirtiest word spoken is 'Flip.' The filmmakers did a great job of creating hilariously sincere characters, placing them in a funny situations and keeping the story fresh as the movie progresses. I'd recommend it to absolutely everyone. I can only say that I hope it finds a way onto cable or even art-house screens. Without a single recognizable face in the cast, I know that the producers have their work cut out for them getting this movie to an audience.

There is one disclaimer to my review, which is that I am married to a former Mormon. I think I enjoyed the film more because of my familiarity with Mormon life – many times I was laughing because it was like watching my in-laws. However, I'm thinking that Mormon life is to "Sons of Provo" as dog show culture is to "Best In Show." I don't know a thing about dog shows and still thought "Best In Show" was brilliant, the best of Christopher Guest's films. And I bet dog show people loved the movie, probably more than I did. I believe the same will go for "Sons of Provo". I just hope that the filmmakers can convince a distributor somewhere that a general audience will enjoy laughing at what they see as a satire of Mormon culture while the Mormon audience will see this as a lovingly hilarious homage to their culture.

This is a film for all those who love the quirky, off beat humor of the mocumentary style. These guys are great! Talk about funny, and a great sense of timing-wow. If you love the T.V. show "the office" you will love this movie. Also great for fans of "Waiting for Guffman", as well as "Best in Show" etc. Funny and hip. I can't wait to check out some of the titles previewed on the DVD. If you are into this type of film, you will also love all of the bonus features. The movie starts with a hysterical monologue from one of the stars of the movie. It was so funny it took my wife and I 5 minutes to make a selection, we just kept watching and laughing. Check out the movie and the bonuses!!!

The movie itself is absolutely hilarious as you follow the escapades of these clueless boys who dream of stardom. Two brothers hold auditions for a third boy to join their band, and from the word go, you forget about how these guys can take themselves so seriously and get a laugh-a-minute! The songs have some good morals to them, when you just listen to the lyrics - but these morals get a healthy mix of laughter, especially when it clashes with Proud Pharisaical Mormon values. I'd recommend this to anybody - whatever their faith! Just don't judge all LDS by what you see in these witty satires! Good use has been made of the DVD format - I could sit and watch the menu options for a half hour at a time, as Will vainly prattles on. There's a good selection of deleted scenes - mostly tirades of ab-libbing. Again, these are worth a barrel of laughs as you see how serious Everclean is about themselves. The LDS movie scene just gets better! Don't miss out just cos you're not LDS.

If so I'm GLAD I live in Lindon (two towns to the North).

I saw the movie at a 9:40 showing in the Provo mall. My friends and I sat behind two other dudes. A couple came in and sat on our right during the previews. Another guy came in and sat to our left. That was all that were in the theater. During the first 10 minutes of the movie the couple walked out, and a minute later the guy to our left walked out. One of my friends was happily snoring next to me, so my other friend and I amused ourselves by throwing popcorn on him.

I read the other reviews of this movie and cannot believe people are praising it so much. This movie is not very funny (it does have a couple of fun lines, but it's not worth the effort).

I give it a 3 out of 10 (not a 0 because it at least is not dirty).