I am a Tongan member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I have served a mission and have been a member my whole life. Heck, I have met John Groberg, and my uncle is named dropped in the movie. I should be the very target demographic for this film. Keep all that in mind when I say, this is not a good movie. So even the choir you're preaching to, wants you to tone it Down
Before starting on the main problem of the movie, I will say the positive. Towards the end the film does have legitimately sweet and sentimental moments that really work. The actor playing Thomas S. Monson is having a fun time portraying one of the coolest guys ever born. And honestly, the acting throughout isn't that bad.
The biggest problem in this movie is how heavy handed the message is hammered in. The movie villainizes the Christian preacher, Viliami 'Sione' Paletu'a, to such an over the top degree, it is pretty insulting. When LDS members give him a pig as a gift, he tells his son to throw the pig into the ocean and drown it. When his son doesn't, he buries him neck deep in the sand where he nearly drowns. Every time they cut to this preacher in the story all he is doing is yelling about his son is dead to him and telling his followers that the missionaries are of the devil. We are not given any backstory of WHY he has such a prejudice against the church, we just know that he hates everything about it. He is a one-note straw man set up to show how good the members are compared to this hate filled Christian preacher.
It comes across as a very "woe is me" type of story. Saying that we've done nothing wrong and people come and attack us for no reason. There are people who will come unprovoked and beat up missionaries. The missionaries will just stand there and say that they love and forgive them. It is told in such a black and white, right and wrong way a Fairy Tale gives more depth to a Big Bad Wolf. It is distracting to think how church members are directing a story showing all members as good noble people and all the rest as heartless jerks.
Beyond that, the movie really drags. It has serious pacing issues and just seems to end when they run out of film.
If you want to know more about the church, talk to some missionaries. Yea verily, it came to pass that this film dwindled in mediocrity, and there was much sorrow.
