The Other Side of Heaven (2001)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Masterful Cinema

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This film is set in the 1950's, not only in time but in style. It was a time of Poodle skirts, McCarthyism and fear of the bomb. This script acknowledges the first only. There is a simplification of the time that will appeal to some but not to most. The characters lack depth and the "feel good" problems the characters face lack tension. That said, the low-key acting services the low-key script very well.If you can identify with the characters (especially if you are Mormon). you will enjoy this film. If you cannot identify with the characters, you will probably find the film slow and very boring.

...to laugh about! Scenery eye candy - that's o.k. But investing the necessary time until reaching the end of this mission is about the same as eating candy floss for 48 hours straight through - without having a toothbrush after wards to clean your teeth! What a taste. Ts, ts, ts. Sorry "brothers", but what I hope is that there are more individuals out there who are able to lift that poor disguise of fundamental Christianity. We're living in the 3rd millennium - and this remains just cute. Everybody telling about "the truth" in a pluralistic and multi-religious oriented society is not to blame, but only to smile at... Knights, hold your horses.

I'm sorry that the adolescent ravings of the previous reviewer appear first. His profound failure to "get it" is an embarrassment.First of all, this is about a young man of "white-bread" heritage casting aside all he has and all he is, even leaving the love of his life for two and a half years, in order to immerse himself in a culture about which he is totally ignorant so that he can offer them the greatest gift he has to offer: His faith.Rather than "looking down" on the people he has come to SERVE, he bears great hardships, and exerts himself in ways he could never have conceived, in order to connect with these people. He comes to love them, profoundly.And their love for him in return, even those who have reason to be suspicious of him, is a testament to his sincerity.Please recall that this is a TRUE STORY. Whatever you might think of John Groberg's religion, or his motives, the fact is that these things actually happened in just this way. He DID travel from Idaho to Tonga, he did live among the people there, he did come to gain their trust, he did bring to them a precious gift of faith, and he did return often throughout the rest of his life, with his wife and family, to be among these people whom he loved.That anyone could be so callously dismissive of this truth is a sad commentary on our "post-Christian" society.But I found this film to be deeply moving and very satisfying, and I recommend it highly to those who enjoy inspiring film.

Excellently done I thought. Unlike some other recent movies that center on a Mormon character but have a theme that don't interest non-Mormons, this movie is great for Mormons and non-Mormons alike. It was nice to be able to go to the theater and not have to worry about the usual crude or suggestive language that is "hidden" in the script of so many screenplays today. I also liked the general message of faith, of how morally-strong people do exist today, and how good things still happen. This movie left me with the feeling that I wished I could have experienced what John Groberg did.