The Oath

The Oath

Like most films I've seen lately, I either don't know anything about it, or I've only seen a teaser trailer. I had no idea that this was a near literal interpretation of the believed texts that formed the Book of Mormon.

I have no problem with religious films. There are the most amazing theories posed in even the greatest of fiction that touch on divinity and faith, so why not enjoy a writer's perception of non fiction, and see where it goes?

Well, in this film, it goes absolutely nowhere. This movie could have been 10-15 minutes long. The overly dramatic acting of Moroni is so bad that even Billy Zane's character smirks and rolls his eyes. I don't really think he was acting when that happened.

The plot isn't bad, in theory. The usual Romeo and Juliet-esque love affair unfolds between two warring sects, ending in tragedy. It's really the acting and the cinematography in which lies the flaws.

I did enjoy the music as the composer did a great job working with a really bad script. I know that the lead actor, director, writer (all the same person) feels he did a heartfelt interpretation, because he says so before the movie starts, but my goodness did this flop.

Go and see for yourself, especially if you are of the Mormon faith. Maybe you'll see more than I did.

If you want to look at this movie on a technical level, I encourage you to move past this review and read the many other lengthy entries. I agree with most of the ones I have read personally. I really seek only to criticize the film on terms of its faithfulness to it's stated mission and the source material it is said to be based on.

To be frank, this is not a Book of Mormon film. While it claims inspiration from the events and people recorded therein, it does very little to communicate the message of the Book of Mormon. This film did not deserve to be associated with scripture and had very little reason to. This film could have substituted characters and places for others of similar but fictitious nature and the movie would have faired much better.

The romance was totally unnecessary and it totally sidelined the importance of the "message" of the film. In spite of being a faith-based film, it was devoid of anything spiritually-minded. God and Jesus are only mentioned in passing dialogue, not the central focus of the film. This film should have shouldered the purpose of showing "unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever-And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations..."

If you are going to dramatize any portion of scripture, respect the purpose of the scriptures. These plain and precious things are precious pearls, and to make a film like this and claim association is to trample them under your feet and turn and rend the very men and women who devoted their lives to bringing truth to the earth.

Nice try, Darin Scott, you have my respect, but never do something like this again.

I've never took it upon myself to write a movie review until after seeing this film. I didn't even have an account on imdb and made one just to write this.

The trailer and the little messages by the director (and main character) before and after the film seem to have nothing to do with the movie. In his messages he is talking about how the film is about the book of mormon love, peace, christ, and that it can change peoples lives. So that's what I expected when I sat down in the theatre.

Instead, I was utterly disappointed and confused. The show was not about christ and barely mentioned things from the book of mormon. It was a strange love story with a lot of strange components. Like neither the way they kept switching from whatever ancient language and english made no sense, and I don't know why the girl was speaking broken english at first (which the actress did pretty bad at).

Also so many scenes seemed to just be the director/main character trying to show off his muscles. Why is he curling the golden plated and the camera zoomed in on his biceps? Why was there a random part of him doing pull ups on a tree? Very weird.

Just everything about this movie was horrendous, it felt like watching a roughy draft/failed project.

I'm directing this at the creator, director, producer, lead actor Darin Scott, because he will clearly read these. I wanted to like this, I was telling all my friends to go see it, then I saw it. Other reviewers have been spot on with their negative assessments, so I'll try to be constructive as well.

1. Darin, it's nice you got into shape for this movie, but apparently the whole movie is just a glamor shot for you.

2. What's with the girl bosses? The sisters don't make sense as characters, and terrible actors.

3. What was the point of having another language spoke a little bit? The ones that speak the Nephite language don't have an accent, except for Billy Zane, who sounds like Mr. Krabs 4. The soundtrack. OMG. It's well done, but it is relentless, it never stops, it's this somber, overbearing sonic landscape that never gives you a break.

5. This story had almost zero to do with Moroni other than burying the plates.

6. Darin, your acting is one note. You use pregnant pauses and slomo for effect. You don't use it constantly.

7. The editing is weird as hell. Things just jump back and forth with no connection. Like, what's with the black dog? That didn't make sense.

8. Training montage? Really? Come on dude. I guess you needed to show the breath holding training to support your escape later, but I think you just want people to see you in a speedo.

Anyone interested in Mormonism, do NOT see this movie. It won't teach you anything. The story is total fiction. This looks like a high school film project. It might have worked as a 15-20 minute short, but if I'd been watching this at home instead of spending $30 at the theater, we would have turned it off. My wife flat out fell asleep and I almost did.

Do better.

The Room. Samurai Cop. The Oath. These three films stand in a class of their own.

No matter which way you look at this, it's very amateur. Right off the bat, it was obvious the editing was very shoddy, and there is hideously overdone color correction throughout the entire thing. Besides some drone footage, the camera work is very bland, and there is a frustrating lack of deep focus shots, leaving any scenery just a blur in the background. The worst thing is it's irredeemably boring. Almost nothing happens, and scene to scene things are repetitive. The camera doesn't do anything interesting, and neither do the characters. The writing is as weak as the editing. It was very forced and cringey, and more than once I groaned audibly from something akin to physical pain. Lastly, and I mean no offense to the guy, but I was getting tired of seeing Darin Scott's face; he just doesn't have the charisma to justify that amount of screen time (or the number of thirst traps he wrote in for himself...).

I'm happy that the guy got to make his movie in the exact same way I'm happy for Tommy Wiseau.