BAPTISTS AT OUR BARBEQUE

REVIEWED BY SHANNON H.

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Because of: thematic elements

Rated:

There's something about small towns that make them quirky. Maybe it's the town folk who have known each other for generations. Maybe it's the fact that there's less than 20,000 people living in a typical small town. Or maybe it's the way certain people practice their religious faith.

Tartan Jones (Dan Merkley) is a Mormon park ranger in Utah, living in the predominately Mormon city of Provo. He is also a single, 29-year-old who is a little lonely in the dating scene. His mom is constantly trying to hook him up with different women and, not surprisingly, Tartan is turned off by it. When a new park ranger position is offered to him in a town out of state, he immediately takes it and moves out to find himself an adventure and a new life. The position is located in a small town called Longwinded or better known as "Longwinded, U.S.A." where there are exactly 262 Mormons and 262 Baptists. On the way to Longwinded, Tartan's eye catches a pretty Mormon girl named Charity (Heather Beers) in a convertible being pulled over by a cop. He shakes it off and heads toward his new hometown. Once there, all the Mormons are finally happy that Tartan is the "tiebreaker" in the town that's 50% Baptist and 50% Mormon. 

In order to meet some of the townspeople, Tartan tries to find a local temple to attend church but realizes that the town lacks a Mormon temple so the congregation has to meet in the home of Sister Wynona Wingate, the librarian of Longwinded's library. In frustration, they demand that Longwinded's oldest resident, Heber, get on the phone with officials in Salt Lake City to find them a new church home. Apparently, old Heber died in the process but before he passed on, the LDS headquarters in Salt Lake gave them a mobile home to use as a church home. Things start getting quirkier when a guy named Rich starts to pick on Tartan for taking his job (Rich used to be the Longwinded forest ranger) and eventually, he steals half of the mobile LDS temple, leaving the Mormon population with half a church (goes to show just how "divided" the town folk are). Fortunately for Tartan, he meets and hooks up with Charity, who came to Longwinded to get over her ex-fiancée, Howard (Howard had broken up with her). The two of them begin a dating relationship that seems to know no boundaries.

In order to bring the citizens of Longwinded together, Charity and Tartan came up with a plan: to throw a barbecue as part of Longwinded's annual summer celebration and invite the whole community. Naturally, some Mormons are opposed to the idea such as the "anti-Baptist" Brother Hatch and Sister Wingate. Will Tartan and Christie's idea unite Longwinded or will it continue to divide and keep them apart? The movie is rated PG for thematic elements. There's no cussing (Rich admitted to cursing God for his problems but the cursing isn't actually heard) and there's no sexual content. It is implied that a strayed member of the Mormon community has a drinking problem but it's not emphasized. Tartan takes a sip of a canteen of what he thinks is water (turns out it was vodka and he forcefully spits it out since Mormons are not allowed to drink alcohol). 

The film emphasizes that people of different faiths can get along. The animosity between the two faiths in the movie aren't violent; just silly and comedic (the pastor of the local Baptist church builds a "wall" separating the church property from the Mormon temple property). Tartan buys a beagle puppy for his Native American friend, Orvil (the breeder insists that the dog "is Baptist"). Despite differential doctrine, the Mormons and the Baptists learn to make peace with each other. During a service, Tartan asks the congregation how Jesus would solve the denomination dilemma. I really liked this film. It was cute, romantic, and clean. What really captured my attention was the portrayal of Tartan and Christie's relationship. It was clean, no pre-marital sex, or excessive make-out sessions (then again, this is a Mormon film). Tartan asks Christie if she prayed before she came to Longwinded. Tartan also believes that God played an important role in bringing them together, as well as the bringing together the town's rival denominations. 

It's been said that God works in mysterious ways and in this case it's no exception. Another favorite aspect of the film is Bob, the local police officer. He is the proverbial comic relief, especially when he fakes a magic act at Longwinded's first annual talent show. Despite the fact that Mormon doctrine differs from Biblical Law, this movie is full of humor and delight and solid proof that clean humor can be funny.
 

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