Latter Days
Latter Days
R | 30 January 2004 (USA)
Latter Days Trailers

Christian, a hunky, 20-something, West Hollywood party boy gets more than he bargains for when he tries to seduce Aaron, a sexually confused Mormon missionary who moves into his apartment complex.

Reviews
Blucher One of the worst movies I've ever seen
Protraph Lack of good storyline.
Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.
daoldiges Latter Days has a strong story/premise going for it in that is deals with one persons discovery his homosexuality as a sincere, and devoted member of the CLDS. There was a lot of great material to work with here. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is amongst the cast and yet almost all of the performances are extremely weak (except for the main character's mother played by Debra Jo Rupp). Everything was so predictably handled that the viewer knew what was going to happen several scenes in advance. All of this the result of a poor script and poor direction.
jerry07 Adding a "gay" and "church" element to a basic cultural clash does not make it a 10/10 movie to me, I need to see and learn something new or the topic executed with brio. This movie has neither grand novelty or impeccable execution.It has its moments though - the portraying of the Mormon church and the intolerant excommunication portion, a very brief scene of an angel waiting at a bus stop smoking is not without humor, the reprogramming part (and yes, it does not work), the 'we do not throw away anything until it is completely dead' in passing statement as the relation between one of the character (Christian) and a patient develops as a background life lesson and in between moments of small emotion as the characters struggle to find a path to meet in the middle ... The movie had the proper elements of cultural clash but the acting was very poor making it a "bore" at times. The character of Aaron (Sandvoss) is believably naive but the other emotions are not convincing to me. Similarly, Christian (Ramsey) is a believable gay party/playboy character but he also hold his dialogs in a way that does not help feeling empathy with what he goes though (reconsidering his life directions for the love of Aaron). I saw comments praising the original music - I found it distracting myself and not enhancing the story much. At the end, I gave an average rating for this movie. All is a question of expectations - if you do not expect the greatest acting or outstandingly novel story, you will find it has its moments, is moving at times and treat a struggle which could have been better acted.
museumofdave Back in the 1930s and 40s, a popular genre film was the womens film, quickly made but well-crafted romances with Carole Lombard, Kay Francis, Joan Crawford, or Bette Davis, films in which the lead character struggled with her values and sometimes her career in order to find, at last, True Love. This film is not too far removed in spirit, intelligently updated, no doubt, but still basically and essentially a Romance, even if it does confront a modern dragon in the guise of fundamentalist religion. I never found that watching this film was dull, as the plot is compelling even if one suspects the ending--the actors are appealingly fresh and attractive, the villains far too easy to boo, but veteran Jacqueline Bisset turns in a warm tribute in the mode of Lauren Bacall school as a wise restaurateur, and there are other cameos that are a delight;For a young person struggling with coming out of the closet, this film might be a joy and a revelation; for others, less so. It is film crafted with affection at a time when there is massive and social change and certainly reflects how various liberties can clash in a multi-layered culture.
Jason Shaw This roller coaster of a movie has you up one minute almost wetting yourself with laughter and then almost blubbering like a schoolgirl into a snotty hanky the next. Put simply it is a modern day gay love story, but it is so much more than that, taking a look at uniting love from different sides of a religious divide as it does. It had mixed reactions from the critics when it was released in 2003/4 and barely broke even on the production costs, yet it garnered many awards from various lesbian and gay film festivals from all over the world.Briefly Latter Days is the love story of Aaron Davis, played by Steve Sandvoss and Christian Markelli acted by Wes Ramsey who come from different sides of the religious tracks, so much so that it might as well be different worlds. It's these seemingly insurmountable differences that provide the bulk of the films content, substance and emotion. Aaron is a young Elder of the Mormon Church Of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints, yep a Mormon missionary, he desperately wants to do his family proud and is quite passionate about his religion, he's also passionate about film. He is sent to the big bad city of Los Angeles with three fellow missionaries to preach the word of god, Mormon style. These three men of 'god' move into an apartment next door to Christian and his roommate Julie, who are both waiters with dreams, she's a singer and he's a err party boy! At first glance, Christian seems a rather shallow character who only looks forward to shagging a new guy every night. This shallow and emotional carefree existence is amplified no end when he makes a $50 bet with a work colleague that he will bed one of the three newly arrived missionaries before the end of the month. He works fast and latches on to Aaron, the most inexperienced missionary and makes an assumption he has a closet gay guy. Now there are a few problems from here on for the two heroes of the piece, firstly Christian is falling for Aaron, secondly Aaron thinks Christian is a shallow 'shag anything' sort of guy and thirdly, most importantly the Mormon church doesn't do gay very well. What follows is a tangled tale of battles and woe as first they are discovered in a romantic clinch and their love and sexual identity is forced out in the open. A cavalcade of emotion erupts for the two, as they have to go through the emotional ringer with things like regret, loss; perseverance, forgiveness and courage which all vie for mental head-space. Is it going to be a happy ending, can love conquer such a vast religious divide? I suppose you will just have to watch the film to find out, all I will say is it is a well-crafted picture laying emotion down thick, fast and heavy and really should have got a better reaction that it originally amassed. The story is well written and put together in a completely honest, frank and believable way. There are several issues raised during the course of the movie regarding not just gay, but any relationships where such a religious obstacle and difference is in place. For me, the movie only works because of that, take it away and you are left with little more than candy-floss. It is a passionate little film, with a passionate and powerful story to tell and I am so glad they made it. The Toronto Sun said it was "The most important gay movie of the last few years" whereas the LA Times chimed in with "At once romantic, earthy and socially critical. Latter Days is a dynamic film filled with humour and pathos". I for one cannot argue with those sentiments for as I said before the film is a bit of an emotional roller coaster. Gary Booher of Affirmation – a lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender Mormon organisation praised the films accuracy "It was so realistic that it was scary. I felt exposed as the particulars of my experience and of others I know was brazenly spread across the big screen for all to behold" Those thoughts are echoed the bucket loads of positive comments received from former Mormons, excommunicated from the church because of their sexuality. It really is a powerful and honest emotive film about a subject that is not often covered in gay or even mainstream cinema. Read more and find out where this film made it in the Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time book, search on Amazon for Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time, or visit - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007FU7HPO