BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Tss5078 For the past decade, I've heard great things about Brigham City, but I've been very hesitant to see it. Aside from having a mostly unknown cast, the film was written, directed, produced, and starred Richard Dutcher, who created a production company called Mormon Cinema, which only makes Mormon related films. I have found that when a film comes from such a strong religious backing, that it usual has a preachy agenda, and tends to focus more on religion than anything else, but to my surprise, Brigham City does not. The film does takes place in a Mormon community, all the characters are Moron, and there is a religious angel to the film, that includes several scenes in the church, which were slow, but thankfully not overwhelming. The story centers around this small religious community in Utah, that is suddenly rocked by a series of murders. Dutcher, plays the sheriff, a highly respect, deeply religious man, grieving for the loss of his family. His town has always been a paradise and has never faced anything like this before, so the sheriff needs to come up with some pretty interesting ways to catch the killer. Dutcher was excellent in his role, after all he wrote it, and who else is better equipped to play such a role? What I really liked was how different the story was, this wasn't just your typical manhunt for a killer on the loose, there were many different facets to this film that made it unique. What gave Brigham City it's fourth star was the amazing twist at the end that no one will see coming. I've seen a lot of films like this and 9 times out of 10, I have the killer pegged before they are revealed, but this film complete blindsided me, which proves to be just another example of clever it is. Yes, there is some religion and yes much of the cast in unknown, but I found this film to be fascinating. Brigham City had me captivated and on the edge of my seat, but most important of all it made me think and managed to really surprise me.

Tim Rollins Richard Dutcher's follow-up to his spectacularly successful indie film GOD'S ARMY was this little gem called BRIGHAM CITY. Dutcher plays small-town sheriff Wes, who finds his little corner of paradise deep in not only a murder mystery, but also in the grip of a serial killer. All of a sudden, this quiet sleepy town is thrust into the national spotlight and bodies start showing up all over the place.Wes is not only the sheriff; he is also the bishop of one of the local wards (congregations) in town, so he is placed in a dual role as both physical protector from a law enforcement standpoint and spiritual leader as well. His young deputy Terry (played by Matthew Brown) helps him out as does an FBI Special Agent (played by Tayva Patch) who flies in from New York to help out on the case.As panic builds within the town and as they try to find who is doing all the killing, everyone is considered suspect. A town that has long lived on faith and trust begins to look at itself and each other in a new light now that the world has invaded on their corner of paradise and left their indelible mark on what for many of them had once been hallowed ground. It's certain that many of them will never look at life the same again.Dutcher does an exceptional job of doing something nobody has dared do before, and that is exploring the dark side of the Mormon psyche, and doing so in a manner that does not denigrate either the Church, its members or the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and for that, he has my everlasting respect. All of us have our dark sides; if sufficiently provoked, even the most mild-mannered of society's members – in or out of the Church – can be provoked or driven to do things that are beyond the pale such as serial killings and the like.BRIGHAM CITY will leave you guessing all the way to the final scene before you realize who the killer is, and the end will leave you satisfied that you have indeed watched a true cinematic masterpiece. Of all the films I have seen that were directed to a primarily LDS-oriented audience, this one disturbed them the most, which tells me this one is BY FAR the best, as most of the Utah-types are still mind warped in the "Happy Valley" mode, and for them, they are better off staying in their own little world. It disturbed them because it hit home, and they did not like that – not in the least – and the fact that it did, had me cheering all the louder for Dutcher.Dutcher's film reminds us to use common sense in conjunction with our faith. I can think of at least THREE preventable tragedies in the last several years out in Utah that could have easily been avoided had more of the "Happy Valley" mindsets used a little street sense hand-in-hand with their faith. Come to think of it, we could all use more of both in our lives.On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this film a 12/10. ***

Eileen McHenry Brigham's sheriff -- a terribly sad, but extremely decent man -- is forced to admit that there is a serial killer in his small, friendly, pretty little town. He sets about looking for the killer from what appears to be a hopelessly blinkered perspective, refusing to believe that anyone but an "outsider" could be responsible. He gradually finds his way to the answer, and it hurts to watch. I could happily see a film by this director every day of the week. This was absolutely brilliantly done -- such a nice change from all the crash and bash of more typical overacted, overplotted, punctuated-by-explosions movies. Dutcher gives the lie to the idea that movie characters (especially the police) need to be wisecracking, high-octane, postmodern cardboard cutouts in order to solve a crime. It's a rare example, too, of a film filled with deeply religious people who are not simply a bunch of flakes.

theholmboy I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I watched it knowing it wasn't going to be a light-hearted film, which was an advantage over many people I know who went to it thinking it was a happy ending sort of show. I must admit it was a little odd to see the goings-on of LDS church meetings and other LDS cultural aspects on the big screen, but it is territory that needs to be covered so that future movies that cover similar territory won't be weighed down with reviews about the LDS church rather than focusing on the movie at hand. I watched the DVD a second time with Richard Dutcher's audio commentary and, after that, I concluded that he is someone who is conscientious about finding the balance in film in regards to the religious issues dealt with, not too pro or too anti. I was quite amazed as to how resourceful he was, considering their meager budget he had to work with. The outcome was superb and he told the story in a simple, yet elegant way. I look forward to Mr. Dutcher's next film.