Am I Missing Something?

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

It is truly a rare thing to see a film that contains a show of true strength and bravery without excessive violence...tenderness without overt sexual content...emotion without dysfunction...humor without making someone the victim. It's the best kind of drama - not white hat versus black hat, but a cast of nothing but ordinary people doing their best to do right by their loved ones, themselves, and yes, their faith. It's exciting in the way that life itself is and should be exciting - it's an adventure with a purpose, driven by the heart, and for that reason, just about unstoppable! There are those, of course, who dislike anything that portrays a character of Mormon faith, or of any religious faith, in a positive light. For them, there is no point in seeing such a film. For the rest of us, Mormon or not (I am not Mormon myself), it's a wonderful story of human determination, and an inspired young person with a full, multifaceted life, living out an amazing, eye-opening adventure.It does an excellent job reflecting and honoring Polynesian culture as well. As someone who has taken much time to study and experience Polynesian languages and traditions, I can tell you that there are no cheesy stereotypes here, which is great because for me, a poor representation of any indigenous culture is a total deal-breaker. This film brought me back to some island adventures of my own.In short, if I had kids, I'd definitely want them to see this movie...but since I don't, I really enjoyed it all by myself!

"The Other Side of Heaven" is a movie that I liked as a younger person with much less appreciation of what appeals to my particular film tastes. But even then, I only would have given this a 6 or a 7 (tops).The performances by Anne Hathaway and Christopher Gorham are disturbingly incompetent. Kevin Kiner's bizarrely typical music is just not interesting enough to bind the movie together. And, as far as themes go, the plot line of this movie is terrifyingly generic (guy comes to a "backwards" civilization to bring "enlightenment" to the "ignorant savages").Honestly, I don't believe in missionary work. After all, didn't some of the people who conquered the Americas come disguised as missionaries? It just doesn't fit into my belief system that you should try to convert someone to yours, so it makes it very difficult for me to relate to this film's main character (a real-life person).Plus, the movie is badly mangled (oops... I mean, edited) together and should not be rated above a 4 in the IMDb weighted average. When it is higher, it makes one wonder about the validity of the entire system.

Exceptional artistic and historic care blend with charming cinematography, to render a visual experience that transcends into an emotional one. Not just one church's story. A universal story. Youth against the world. Virtue against violence. Anyone can relate to this film. It combines all the elements.You get a light-hearted view of one young man's experience in a remote and unusual part of the world, at a time when the world was just about to start shrinking. There are family values. Individual challenges. Real-life stresses hurled from nature and cultural contrast.The photography is utterly charming in its balance. It is not a slow film, any more than "Castaway" was a slow film. The difference between these two films is that one pits a single man against the world and against himself, while the other pits a young man against an utterly alien life which he manages to blend into his own. The "slowness" of the Pacific island life is micro-viewed to reveal that there are actually exciting and humorous details of daily life; while macro-viewed to show the occasional punctuation of extreme chaos and challenge,change and redirection.Everyone wins in this film. Conflicts range from mutual culture and social shock, to static compromise, and eventually up to complete resolution.See a South Pacific adventure that is, for once, totally based on real life and real historic occurrences.

I am not a Mormon but thought this movie was a fine example of a good, clean, wholesome, interesting, and very enjoyable film. Time and time again we have watched--or started to watch--a highly proclaimed movie, only to be turned off by the language, violence, and sexual inferences. The Other Side of Heaven was a refreshing change and is proof that Hollywood can do it when they want to. Would love to see many, many more films of this quality. I saw this movie two days ago...and this weekend we are inviting relatives over to see it. Incidentally, we have friends who are (non-Mormon) missionaries in a location very much like Tonga, and they have experienced many, many of the same things portrayed in the film...even the rats!