I think it's important to note at the beginning of this review that I am a devout member of the LDS faith who has seen and enjoyed many church related movies, especially many that portray the early history of the church. In terms of normal movie reviews, I may give out a few spoilers, of which I usually don't, but that is only because the life and history of Joseph Smith isn't a big secret. Most people going in to this movie will know exactly what will happen just because they are aware of the life and history of Joseph Smith already and this film is very historically accurate.
With that in mind, this portrayal of the life of Joseph Smith was for sure one of the better that I have seen. The style and angle it takes is a fairly unique one which may open the eyes of some and give people a realistic view of Joseph Smith's life. In making a movie of Joseph Smith, most movies will cast a Joseph Smith that is well in his 30's and is typically an emotion free, always positive, big spiritual giant like a prophet should be. This movie does things a bit different. As the first movie in an intended trilogy, this movie ends when the church is organized in the year 1830. In real life, Joseph Smith was 24 years old when the church was organized and would turn 25 later in that year. When Joseph receives the plates for the first time in 1827, he was almost 22 and the movie starts right before Joseph marries Emma, which was in January of 1827, a month after he turned 21. Dustin Hardin, who plays the role of Joseph in this movie, is in that age range in real life, so we see a younger Joseph in this movie than most movies show, which in turn gives us a perspective of how old Joseph really was in this time period. The other thing that sticks out that is unique to this movie is the wide range of emotion that Joseph shows. While Joseph was a very spiritual person, he was also a human being like all of us and this movie gives us that perspective. In addition to his spiritual side, he also had moments where he was angry, sad, scared, depressed, overly excited, romantic, and nervous. Which I imagine is accurate to how Joseph really felt at this time period.
The acting in this movie was spectacular. Dustin Harding did a great job as young Joseph 10 years ago in the short 20 minute restoration film and does an equally well job as Joseph in this. Michael Flynn and Lindsay Far as Isaac Hale and Emma Smith did an excellent job as well. As well as several other characters. The cinematography and music were great. The movie tried to not fall into the typical Joseph Smith formulaic, which could be seen as a flaw, but could also be commended. Like there were several times where main events were told by the characters to an audience of others instead of the movie showing us what happened.
All in all, this is a very good, well done movie that is well worth your time and money. I highly recommend it.
With that in mind, this portrayal of the life of Joseph Smith was for sure one of the better that I have seen. The style and angle it takes is a fairly unique one which may open the eyes of some and give people a realistic view of Joseph Smith's life. In making a movie of Joseph Smith, most movies will cast a Joseph Smith that is well in his 30's and is typically an emotion free, always positive, big spiritual giant like a prophet should be. This movie does things a bit different. As the first movie in an intended trilogy, this movie ends when the church is organized in the year 1830. In real life, Joseph Smith was 24 years old when the church was organized and would turn 25 later in that year. When Joseph receives the plates for the first time in 1827, he was almost 22 and the movie starts right before Joseph marries Emma, which was in January of 1827, a month after he turned 21. Dustin Hardin, who plays the role of Joseph in this movie, is in that age range in real life, so we see a younger Joseph in this movie than most movies show, which in turn gives us a perspective of how old Joseph really was in this time period. The other thing that sticks out that is unique to this movie is the wide range of emotion that Joseph shows. While Joseph was a very spiritual person, he was also a human being like all of us and this movie gives us that perspective. In addition to his spiritual side, he also had moments where he was angry, sad, scared, depressed, overly excited, romantic, and nervous. Which I imagine is accurate to how Joseph really felt at this time period.
The acting in this movie was spectacular. Dustin Harding did a great job as young Joseph 10 years ago in the short 20 minute restoration film and does an equally well job as Joseph in this. Michael Flynn and Lindsay Far as Isaac Hale and Emma Smith did an excellent job as well. As well as several other characters. The cinematography and music were great. The movie tried to not fall into the typical Joseph Smith formulaic, which could be seen as a flaw, but could also be commended. Like there were several times where main events were told by the characters to an audience of others instead of the movie showing us what happened.
All in all, this is a very good, well done movie that is well worth your time and money. I highly recommend it.
