The R.M.

Just when I imagined LDS-driven comedy had reached a maximum, having no more cracks to make on the cinematic scene, I saw the world premiere of The RM in Sandy, Utah. I found myself bent over in laughter for a majority of the film, but ultimately left the theatre wishing there was more of a story-line and actors with more talent. In comparison to the 2002 film Singles Ward, corny jokes were found without much effort; however, I found a stronger comedial aspect in The RM. I would definately see it again, but not until it reaches the dollar theatre or comes out on video. I would describe this movie as a must-see for LDS people of all ages. I rated this a 7 out of 10.

I have lived in Utah for 12 years, and like another reviewer, I had seen part of this on a local TV station a couple of weeks ago, and thought what I saw was pretty funny, so I rented the DVD. The first half of the movie is hilarious! Nothing goes right for the main character after he returns from his mission to Wyoming (a big laugh right there...). My daughters and I laughed our heads off. Toward the end of the movie, the momentum was somewhat lost by the convoluted story. The movie tried to turn serious, and it came off as a bit preachy. It was a bit heavy handed toward "jack" Mormons and toward non-Mormons, as they are depicted as heavy drinkers and just all around bad people. It wasn't a bad movie, however, and we got some good laughs out of it. "Big Budah" the local radio personality did surprisingly well in his acting debut! The DVD has a lot of fun extras too. All in all, I recommend it for good family viewing and a few laughs.

In the film "The R.M.", Jared Phelps, played by Kirby Heyborne, returns home from a two-year mission for his church. Out in 'the field' Jared lived the life of a missionary, teaching and preaching a spiritual message to complete strangers. When Phelps finally returns home, he finds that maybe he should have stayed out in the field. Upon his arrival to the airport, Jared finds no one there waiting for him. No friends. No family. No one. A bit disappointed, he justifies this by saying to a stranger: "My mom is probably just getting some flowers." His return to his house is even worse. He goes home, or at least to where home was two years ago, when he left for his mission, but his family has moved! Finally, upon arriving to his 'new' house, he learns that his family thought his return date home was a month later, his mom is pregnant with her seventh child, and the family now has a Tongan foreign exchange student living in the house and sleeping in Jared's bedroom. This is hardly the homecoming Jared anticipated. Not only that, but also after only a few days of being home, he finds out that he has lost his job, and his girlfriend is engaged to someone else. How awful! The movie continues with things that go wrong in Jared's post-mission life. After much prayer, Jared tries to adjust to life as a returned missionary.

The critical intention of director Kurt Hale was to show the audience how missionaries adjust to their lives after their missions, when they have to enter back into reality. The critical technique is obvious through the secondary characters, inside humor, and minor background music that help to make the movie greater.

I think a lot of people have seen "Single's Ward" by the same writing/production team and expected "The R.M." to be the sequel. I know that I went under that impression, so it came as quite a surprise when the same ol' cast from Single's Ward were playing very different parts. It was a good movie that very much reminded me of an LDS version of the "Meet the Parents" (Nothing seems to go right). While there were many funny scenes that most any returned missionary could relate to, the film seemed to try to take the R.M. stereotypes a little to the extreme. I felt the plot suffered a little just to get a laugh. All in all I enjoyed the movie and hope that the Hales continue to put out films. If you're LDS and you want a good laugh I don't think you can go wrong with this one.

The R.M. has some inspired moments, and generally treats the idea of a returned missionary with humor. All of the things that go wrong are generally predictable, but expressed in a humorous way.

There are problems with the film, however. The biggest is the film's racial insensitivity. Early in the movie, Jared Phelps finds that a Chinese-American family has moved into his old home. With vaguely Asian music in the background, Mr. Wong kicks Phelps in the face. Why does the Asian-American character have to be an expert in martial arts? Why is there Asian music in the background? This might not have been an issue had there been any other Asian-American characters, but there were not.

Similarly, the Tongan exchange student in the film is named Humuhumunukunukuapua. This is the name of the Hawaiian state fish. Would a French foreign exchange student have been named Bratwurst?

Another problem with the film is the blatant ad for utahweddings.com. While presented in a slightly humorous way, it's still clear that it's an ad, and takes up at least 2 minutes of screen time.