Brigham City Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)December 3rd, 2001
BRIGHAM CITY
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2001 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): *** 1/2
If you're getting tired of your local multiplex, which has Hogwarts playing on every screen, you might be in the mood to seek out something different. How much more different can you get than a Mormon murder mystery? A bigger surprise than the identity of the killer is the quality of the production, featuring heart-felt, honest and sometimes humorous performances. Set in the small Utah town of Brigham, the film is filled with actors who deliver such flawless performances that you have to keep reminding yourself that they're just acting.
The engrossing naturalism of BRIGHAM CITY, by writer, director and star Richard Dutcher, will not come as any surprise to those who saw his first picture, GOD'S ARMY, one of last year's most financially successful independent films. It is refreshing to see a movie that treats religion as a positive force in life. In Hollywood movies, the church is almost always a chief source of villains, not saviors.
One day on the outskirts of Brigham, Sheriff Wes Clayton (Dutcher) and his deputy Terry (Matthew A. Brown), come upon an abandoned blood-red Mustang convertible with interior to match, thanks to a victim's blood. The sheriff is very protective of his tiny town, claiming that everyone there dies of natural causes. The only thing that pleases him about the crime scene is that the car has California plates. He figures that the killer was an outsider, and the dead woman just picked her freeway off ramp at random. (Wilford Brimley adds his marquee name to the production as the retired sheriff who helps in the investigation.)
Besides trying to solve the murder mystery, we also become quite intrigued by Wes, a sheriff with an interesting background. A quiet, reserved man, he has a bum leg caused by an accident that killed his wife and child and forever scarred him. Soon the murders become an epidemic, and it's clear that he can't shield his town since the murderer must be among them. Among the film's many touching moments, none is better than the time Wes goes to the family of one of the murder victims to tell them that their daughter has been killed. In this scene of quiet and palpable power don't be surprised if your eyes tear up. And, if you don't shed a tear of bittersweet joy during a communion episode towards the end, you'll want to have your tear ducts checked.
Besides working as a drama and a mystery, the movie is also a pretty effective comedy. "Would you mind?" Judy (Jayne Luke) asks Wes, her sheriff and her bishop. "I've never confessed my sins to a man with a gun before." He's happy to take off his firearms and hear what she has to say. Another time, two of the local senior citizens reflect on where the police are investigating. "I drove by. Every cop in town was there," says one. "We only have two cops," replies the other.
The story blends together belief in Mormonism with the troubles that the town is facing. In one scene, a Sunday school teacher, speaking about an episode from the Bible, asks her adult class, "Do we have to lose our innocence to gain wisdom?" We then cut to the sheriff, who is forced to examine photographs of a dead body that he'd rather not have to examine.
In a time of war, when our nation is pulling together, we couldn't have a better role model that the little town of Brigham. In good times and bad, this community pulls together to help its citizens. Possibly the best and most accurate compliment paid to the sheriff is that he is, quite simply, "a good man." And, likewise, BRIGHAM CITY is a good movie and one well worth seeking out.
BRIGHAM CITY runs 1:59. It is rated PG-13 for "violence and thematic material" and would be acceptable for kids around 10 and up.
The film is playing in limited release now in the United States. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the Camera Cinemas beginning on Friday, December 7, 2001.
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