It's been a bit since we had a bad Christian movie and honestly, it's been a very long time since we dabbled in something specifically Mormon. This particular film dealt with the true story of Willard Bean, the former 1905 middleweight boxing champion of the world, who moves to Palmyra, New York to take care of Joseph Smith's old farm and to try to get the Hill Cumorah property for the church (the location Smith supposedly found the golden plates if you're familiar with the myth). Strangely enough, that short summary really does cover the majority of the film. He and his wife move there, they are refused services for being Mormons, their kids are treated badly, and they endure. After six years, Willard decides to try to curry favor with the town by . . . beating them up in a boxing ring? Yeah, it doesn't work. Then after another stretch of time, they try being actively nice to everyone. This works and they convert a whole bunch of people. The end.
This movie had some funny moments. There's a scene that was actually meant to be funny and succeeded when Willard's wife mentions something happening in seven months and then we get a "1/2 mile later" title card before Willard turns to her in shock and says, "You're pregnant?!" There are a lot of moments of people being mean that are so over-the-top you have to laugh. Also, Kay had fun giving a running commentary about the accuracy of the costumes because she loves the 1910s and is always mad no one does it right ("That man has a fedora! Did he time travel twenty years into the future?!"). Overall, it's not really worth your time but it wasn't painful either.
Spoon Rating: 3
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