The documentary is built like a good news story: An issue is raised; people who come down on one side of the issue have their say; people on the other side of the issue have their say; the viewers are left to draw their own conclusions.

"It's a thematic portrait, not a chronological portrait," Whitney said. "It is not exhaustive, it is not comprehensive, it is thematic. ... I think film is at its best when it chooses a few big ideas and pursues them."

Working with both Mormon and non-Mormon consultants, "I have chosen, I hope not arbitrarily, what I felt to be the defining ideas and themes and events in Mormon history that would help outsiders go inside the church," Whitney said.

(The LDS Church cooperated with Whitney but had no part in the production and no input into the final product.)

Part 1 of "The Mormons" deals mostly with the LDS Church's history; Part 2 looks at the modern-day church.

Part 1 is broken into six acts — "Revelation," "The Saints," "Persecution," "Exodus," "Mountain Meadows Massacre" and "Polygamy." Part 2 has five acts — "The Great Accommodation," "The Mission," "Dissenters and Exiles," "The Family" and "The Temple."

It's not rigidly divided. History, doctrine and personal stories are intermixed across the various acts.

Whitney mixes interviews with historians, authors, critics of the church, LDS general authorities and lay members with historical photos, drawings and modern film footage — all narrated by David Ogden Stiers.

Mormon politicians such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and former Massachusetts governor and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney are mentioned but not interviewed. The only politician interviewed on camera is Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah).

There is a lot that sheds a very favorable light on the LDS Church and its members, from sincere, committed Mormons talking about their missions to praise for the church's welfare system. A survivor of Hurricane Katrina says, "We were hearing stories on the radio of troops coming in, helicopters were flying over. We even heard the president was flying over in a big helicopter looking at us. But nobody was on the ground with us except for the Mormons."

Whitney found Betty Stevenson, an African-American convert in Oakland, Calif., who has a history of drug abuse and spent time in prison.

"She had this conversion that was so dramatic. And she was funny about it as well," Whitney said.

In the film, Stevenson says the missionaries "came in and told me the most preposterous story I have ever heard in my life. They told me about this white boy, a dead angel and some gold plates. And I thought, 'Mmm. I wonder what they on?"'

But she goes on to say, her voice breaking with emotion, "I found something inside of me that was responding to this message of hope."