A decade ago LDS comedies were all the rage with The Singles Ward, The RM, and Church Ball to name a few. The local cinema seemed flooded with these movies, which proved we latter-Day Saints have a sense of humor and enjoy laughing at our antics. In the mix were the more serious Gods Army, The Best Two Years (still hands down my favorite all-time LDS film), and the amazing Saints and Soldiers. In recent years it seems sophisticated movies have won out with the incredibly successful 17 Miracles and Saratov Approach.
With Inspired Guns the LDS comedy is back.
Elder Fisher (played by newcomer David Lassetter) has only a week left in his mission before heading home to his family, as a capstone to his time in the field Fisher's companion is transferred (highly improbable with mission terms being 6 weeks at a time, but we'll go with it), and receives a new companion: The troublesome, faith lacking, rap singing Elder Johnson (Dashiell Wolf) from Park City UT, who thinks he's a "homeboy" and believes Justin Bieber is a valid Hip-Hop artist. Soon they go on their merry way, taking "the word" to the streets, and get caught up with the mafia and a couple of idiot FBI agents (hmmmmm . . . -_-;;, yeah). Oh, and there's that gang, too.
From the beginning of Inspired Guns you know the film doesn't take itself seriously, and never intended to, and because of this comparing Inspired Guns to Saratov Approach would be ridiculous. They're both missionary movies, yes, but that's where the comparisons end. This movie is full of one-liners (some quite funny, others falling really flat) and slapstick humor.
If you look past the realism errors this movie is funny in parts, with the second half of the film being stronger then the first. I found myself chuckling during the church meeting scene, when two bird-brained mafia rejects visit a service, and the FBI eavesdrop. Everything is taken out of context.
Still, I'm not a super fan of overly stupid characters, and this movie has a few, but then certain plot points wouldn't be possible otherwise. The Mafia misfits belong in a 3 stooges movie. And those two FBI agents . . . something as simple as Google would solve their misconception. No one's that stupid, I hope.
And Inspired Guns isn't without its technical problems. This is an independent film, after all.
Overall I did have a few good laughs and enjoyed myself. If you want a silly movie to take your family to, this movie may be a good option, but trying to apply logic to everything presented ruins the experience. Silly for silly's sake.
MPAA: Rated PG for some violence, language and thematic material.
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