The R.M. (2003)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

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.

My sister left the DVD for The RM after Thanksgiving this year with her recommendation. We'd never heard of the movie before this Nov [2004] but were willing to give it a try. Looking over the DVD cover gave me a fair sense that the movie would likely be wholesome enough for our entire family, which is always a plus here. [Really that stuff does matter to a lot of people.] That was refreshing all by itself.Both of us, our six children, and two of our friends [in their 50s] just finished watching The RM this evening, for the second time. We're all still grinning and humming the music. None of us are LDS or ever have been, but we got most of the jokes. From our perspective The RM seemed to offer plenty of gentle tweeks without becoming offensive or disdainful. For any LDS wondering, we did not think it portrayed LDSs in poor light at all - rather it appears that there are some with an excellent sense of humor in your midst. I don't know how many films already exist in this genre, but we're very impressed with our first exposure to HaleStorm Entertainment. We found the acting and comedic timing quite good. The storyline was refreshing, the wit was sharp, and the music was great! [We've already looked up Sweethaven and played the bonus video several times.] Considering the subject matter [and the movie never having crossed our radar previously] we were expecting a low-budget, home-movie type deal and found ourselves surprised and impressed with the production quality. And while the moral may be simple, the importance of choosing to do the right thing is a universal principal that plenty of non-Mormons can appreciate too.I doubt we would have ever run across this movie accidentally on our own, but we consider it a gem. Accordingly, we're going to see if our local [artsy] theater will consider bringing The RM to their big screen so it can be enjoyed by others as well. Our collective opinion is that this movie deserves a broader audience.

If you're not a mormon, you probably don't tolerate much other religions. Personally, I'm not a Mormon. But, I like to look into other religions. First, let me say I am fascinated by the LDS. I love to read the BoM.Now for the review. ;)First and Foremost, this movie is so much better then The Singles Ward. Better acting, better idea, and lots funnier. Some scenes made me nearly pee my pants.While the acting is better, that still isn't saying much. It's decent, but not perfect. And the direction and photography is good.*** out of *****

Being in the theatre and film industry myself, I've generally been critical of cheesy LDS comedies, but The RM was not cheesy. Almost all of the humor is based on exaggeration, some of it more exaggerated than others. The contrast between Relief Society and Elder's Quorum meetings, however, was almost right on the mark, right down to the doily on top of R.S. radio and the E.Q. instructor's plea to have someone read the first 6 pages of the lesson. Having grown up in the Idaho-Utah LDS culture myself, I found much of the humor about LDS culture delightful; though I expect that members of the church from other states may miss the humor that is aimed almost exclusively at the Idaho-Utah culture.The RM fits into the farce genre, which does not require realism, depth of character, or a poignant moral, so if the viewer goes into the theatre expecting any of these, he or she is going to be disappointed.My one criticism is that the film, perhaps in its attempt to portray the humorous elements of LDS society, comes across as cynical in many scenes, and the more critical LDS viewer may find this offensive. For example, contrary to the film's depiction, Elder's Quorums do have many elders who bring their manuals, who diligently prepare lessons, and who faithfully perform their home teaching--even in Idaho and Utah. It is doubtful this perceived cynicism is intended, and it is more likely that it is merely the byproduct of the film's attempt to maximize humor.My wife and I found the film delightful. We found it far more entertaining than most of the comedies that prevail in movies theaters today--most of which are also farces, but that, despite their multi-million dollar casts, maximize humor with cheap sexual references, foul language, and cynical views of the America and the family and leave us feeling that we need to scrub our eyes and ears with a Brillo pad. Watch The RM. It's well worth your time.