The R.M. (2003)

A Masterpiece!

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Jared is a young Mormon man who has just finished his two year missionary stint. He believes he is coming back to a job and plans on proposing to his longtime girlfriend. Horrors! After buying the ring, he learns his girlfriend is two weeks away from marrying someone else and his job is down the drain, too. Not only that, but his parents have sold his car and adopted a young man who is now inhabiting Jared's old room! Whew. Well, there is the den and Jared snags a job as a repo man for a rental company, among other prospects. And, he valiantly tries to sell the ring to improve his cash flow. But, things look up when he meets Kelly. She is the daughter of an important church man and she is beautiful. Can she possibly be interested in Jared? Everyone will take a shine to this film whether they are Mormon or not. The actors are engaging and funny, the script is snappy and the production values are good. There are a few insider jokes about Mormons which may fly over the viewer's head but it does not matter in the long run. If you are searching for another romantic comedy with good principles, put your faith in this review and find this movie. The film delivers a dose of happiness for any member of the viewing audience.

A review here compares this movie to "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Being a Greek Mormon myself, I concur to a certain degree. The performances were good, Kirby Heyborne's facial expressions and reactions really carry the movie, Will Swenson more or less reprises his role from Single's Ward and Britani Bateman perfectly balances Mormon moral principles, in every sense, and being plain hot. The first half of the movie more than anything I felt sorry for the poor guy, although there were some good laughs, too. Most of the humor though is based on Mormon stereotypes - if You are not acquainted with that, I am afraid You will not get much out of this flick. I think that there is a message for Mormons, that righteousness always pays off, even it does not look like this at all, in the end you will ride with the hot general authorities daughter towards sunset; the message for non-Mormons IMHO is, "Mormons are an odd people, but they can laugh at themselves"

I am not LDS, but I've lived in Utah 25 years and am a professional genealogist, so I understood and appreciated lot of the "in-jokes." I caught this movie on KJZZ , a local independent broadcast network, on a Sunday night and while I came in a bit late, I kept watching - even to the detriment of my regular Sunday night shows.I can see where some people might be offended by the exaggerated portrayal of LDS culture, but from a non-Mormon point of view, it's refreshing to know that there are some LDS people who can poke fun at themselves and their culture.If I were to pick my favorite scene, without "spoiling" it, I would say it was the restaurant scene and the names of some of the dishes.I've been telling my LDS friends about the movie all day and they've all laughed at the scenes I've described and those who've seen it have had nothing bad to say about it.If it is available as a rental, I wouldn't mind seeing it again.

This movie is silly, ridiculous... and a bit more true than we would like to think! I just got back from serving a mission in Texas and found the movie HILARIOUS. Of course it is stupid, so was Single's Ward... but I laughed out loud the whole time. My family DID move while I was gone (of course, they TOLD me), my parents were confused until right at the end as to when I was coming home (My mother was CONVINCED I should be home in March when I came home the end of April!) and I feel like adjusting to the "real world" has been among the hardest things I have ever done! I guess I like it so much because I relate to it. I think that this one is actually MUCH funnier than Single's Ward, though I liked Single's Ward soundtrack more. Over all, The R.M. was just stupid... and I loved every minuet of it.