Movies - God's Army

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	Movies - God's Army

God's Army is a 2000 film. It was written, directed by and features Richard Dutcher. It is an independent film and was financed by private investors.

Main cast

Matthew A. Brown as Elder Allen
Richard Dutcher
as Elder Dalton
Jacque Gray as Sister Fronk
DeSean Terry as Elder Banks
Michael Buster as Elder Kinegar
Luis Robledo as Elder Sandoval
Jeff Kelly as Elder Mangum
John Pentecost as President Beecroft
Lynne Carr as Sister Beecroft

Story

God's Army is about Mormon Missionaries as they struggle with their work and, almost inevitably, their faith. The movie focuses on a pair of missionaries, Elder Allen (Brown) and Elder Dalton (Dutcher) serving as missionaries in Los Angeles, California ("Elder" is an office in the Priesthood and a title LDS missionaries use while serving missions). Dalton is a seasoned missionary and Allen is a new recruit paired with Dalton to be trained.

Allen questions his reason for being on a mission. He is a somewhat faithful member of the Church, but his father was excommunicated from the church and his mother doesn't attend anymore.

Dutcher proves to be a demanding taskmaster and he demands much of Allen—almost too much in Allen's eyes. Allen teeters on the brink of leaving his two-year mission almost as soon as it begins. Allen witnesses another missionary lose his faith and abandon his own mission. Allen changes his mind as he finds the sacrifices others have made to be on a mission, such as ostricization from family. His own companion, Elder Dalton, dropped out of medical school to serve a mission and is fighting a losing battle with brain cancer. After a trial of his faith and some ernest soul searching, Allen finds untapped courage and embraces his work as a messenger of God.

Reception

This movie was taken on a tour of North America for special engagements. It was primarily intended for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("Mormon" or LDS) audiences, but non-LDS viewers were also welcome to showings. The reception by LDS audiences was generally positive, while the reception from non-LDS viewers ranged from positive, to luke-warm to indignation.

Many professional critics were pleased at Dutcher's willingness to address some of the more sensitive issues of the LDS church, such as their past denial to allow black members into the LDS priesthood. They also enjoyed the look into missionaries' struggles and the work they face. Despite this, some felt the film was too apologetic.

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