MOVIE REVIEW - LATTER DAYS

Christian is a 20-something LA gay playboy who waits tables at night and tans during the day. He lives with Julie, who hopes for a hit single. One day four mormon missionaries move into the apartment across the way. Julie and Christian initiate a conversation and find out that mormons are strictly anti-homosexual. Telling their coworkers about their new neighbors, a bet is made to see if Christian can convert one of the Mormon's to his belief system. Through many twists and turns one of the missionaries, Aaron, falls for Christian and unexpectedly Christian falls for him in return.

At first glance, Latter Days appears to have characters created by a cookie cutter: promiscuous, fashionable gay boy; strong-willed, sassy black best friend; reserved, innocent, pious Mormon. However, the characters are almost so cliche that they become real, since we all know people or can relate to people like these characters.. The characters of Lila and Keith are mostly props for the plot. Though they are instrumental in the story themselves, their characters could have been more fully developped to evoke more emotion for Aaron and Christian.

In addition, the plot seems to be very predictable, especially the $50 bet to see if Christian can sleep with Aaron. As the plot progresses though, it is full of wonderful characters and interactions that make the movie worth seeing. The story is full of wonderful metaphors. These metaphors and different sub-plots show miracles can happen everyday, and when you least expect them. This movie attacks the Mormon tradition to an extent, but not God. This movie shows that God is present everywhere, even if we don't understand it.

The ending was fairly predictable, but not unemotional. This was not a cinematic masterpiece or a blockbuster which seem to be the only two desired options these days. Insead, this film was a story about two people in a certain place in time. This movie's appeal wasn't effects or academy-award-winning acting, but it was simply a story and a very good one. It was a pleasure to watch this film and I relished the pure pleasure of the story, the characters and their lives. 5/5 Stars