Showing of 'God's Army II' draws praise and criticism

Despite an LDS filmmaker's stated effort to combat religious stereotypes in his most recent film, one Utah religious leader said there were several he was offended by during a recent interfaith panel discussion.

The film, "God's Army II: States of Grace," was originally released in 2005 and received praise from several critics, who labeled it a large cut above other LDS-themed films for a gritty story line that explores gang violence, forbidden love and redemption in the context of LDS missionary service.

The Trolley Square Regency Theater was packed Wednesday night for a free showing of the film, which will be re-released in local theaters on Jan. 20 and run through the duration of the Sundance Film Festival in Park City. A panel discussion followed the screening, featuring the film's writer and director, Richard Dutcher, as well as several local religious leaders and observers.

Audience questions following the discussion became largely commentary on the local culture, including swipes at local businessman Larry Miller for refusing to show the controversial film "Brokeback Mountain" in his theaters.

The Rev. France Davis leads Utah's largest African American congregation, Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City. He surprised Dutcher and many in the audience when he blasted the film's portrayal of an African American preacher, whom the LDS missionaries find drunk and unconscious in a gutter. They take him in and befriend him.

"I see nothing good" in the character's portrayal, he said. "He is shown as a money-grabber, drunk and a lady's man. That seems to me to be the common image of African Americans in this community." The Rev. Davis, who worked with the late Martin Luther King Jr., said when Congress was considering a national holiday to honor the civil rights slain leader, those same three issues were at the core of the opposition.

The film also portrays violent black and Asian gang members. "I'm told the most violent gang in our state is not Hispanic or African American. I think we're feeding a commonly held belief about people who are defined as 'the other.' "

Dutcher countered by saying he comes from a mixed religious background: one-third Baptist, one-third Pentecostal and one-third Mormon. "I'm sad those characters would come across that way to you. That was not my intention. I wanted very much to show that of all races represented in the film, none of them were completely negatively portrayed and none of them were all positively portrayed."