The Work and the Glory
I had never heard of this movie until 24 hours ago when it showed up at the secret theater. A check of movie listing showed it to be in limited release for what looked like a test weekend to see if it would get wider distribution. After watching "The Work and the Glory" my guess is it will stick to limited screenings for a small target audience.
Essentially a religious movie, "The Work and the Glory" is set in the early 1800's and examines the impact of Joseph Smith and his new religion impact a small community in Palmyra, NY. The movie revolves around the Steed family and how their lives are impacted by a move to a small town and a meeting with Joseph Smith. The religious tension is played out by the actions of the two Steed brothers, Joshua and Nathan.
This is a full on movie with a point of view and it was made by members of the LDS religion. Therefore we always know our heroes from our villians. The heroes are all bathed, with clean shiny hair, light clothing, and good teeth. The villians are dirty, unshaven, stringy hair, and wear dark and drab clothing. Heroes play with small children and notice flowers. Villians drink moonshine. Trust me, you'll know who's who. The Steed brothers end up on opposite sides of the Joseph Smith dilemma as Joshua cannot accept that someone has seen god and Nathan wants to learn more. Joshua turns to moonshine and crime and becomes a villian. Nathan earnestly defends Joseph and becomes even more angelic in appearance throughout the movie.
"The Work and the Glory" is not a bad movie but it is unfocused. Sometimes it's about the Steed family, sometimes a love triangle as both brothers fall in love with the same girl, sometimes it's about religion, and sometimes it's about clearing land. The pacing is slow and after 90 minutes I kept tapping my feet, waiting for resolution. I enjoyed the story about Nathan and how he was interested in learning about Joseph's visions and the Mormon religion. The other story plots seemed to be mostly filler and I think the movie would haver been stronger without the ever present bad guys and their quest to beat up decent folk.
Who is the target audience? If you are Mormon - go see this movie. You will love it. There was a small youth group in the audience and the girls were crying at the end. For everyone else - it's just there. Filmed in Tenessee, the autumn colors looked nice and the costume designer did a good job so there's something to think about besides the slow pacing. In a month that hasn't seen many strong releases, "The Work and the Glory" at least tries to have some dignity.
Essentially a religious movie, "The Work and the Glory" is set in the early 1800's and examines the impact of Joseph Smith and his new religion impact a small community in Palmyra, NY. The movie revolves around the Steed family and how their lives are impacted by a move to a small town and a meeting with Joseph Smith. The religious tension is played out by the actions of the two Steed brothers, Joshua and Nathan.
This is a full on movie with a point of view and it was made by members of the LDS religion. Therefore we always know our heroes from our villians. The heroes are all bathed, with clean shiny hair, light clothing, and good teeth. The villians are dirty, unshaven, stringy hair, and wear dark and drab clothing. Heroes play with small children and notice flowers. Villians drink moonshine. Trust me, you'll know who's who. The Steed brothers end up on opposite sides of the Joseph Smith dilemma as Joshua cannot accept that someone has seen god and Nathan wants to learn more. Joshua turns to moonshine and crime and becomes a villian. Nathan earnestly defends Joseph and becomes even more angelic in appearance throughout the movie.
"The Work and the Glory" is not a bad movie but it is unfocused. Sometimes it's about the Steed family, sometimes a love triangle as both brothers fall in love with the same girl, sometimes it's about religion, and sometimes it's about clearing land. The pacing is slow and after 90 minutes I kept tapping my feet, waiting for resolution. I enjoyed the story about Nathan and how he was interested in learning about Joseph's visions and the Mormon religion. The other story plots seemed to be mostly filler and I think the movie would haver been stronger without the ever present bad guys and their quest to beat up decent folk.
Who is the target audience? If you are Mormon - go see this movie. You will love it. There was a small youth group in the audience and the girls were crying at the end. For everyone else - it's just there. Filmed in Tenessee, the autumn colors looked nice and the costume designer did a good job so there's something to think about besides the slow pacing. In a month that hasn't seen many strong releases, "The Work and the Glory" at least tries to have some dignity.
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