Spring Break
"Mobsters and Mormons" greets movie fans this weekend
Stacie Peart
Issue date: 9/9/05 Section: Entertainment
It's been promoted as "The Sopranos" meets "Pleasantville," but "Mobsters and Mormons" is just another clean cut Utah flick. While the film is a vast improvement to "The RM," it still doesn't hold up to "The Single's Ward."
The newest HaleStorm Entertainment family movie was John Moyer's (writer of "The Single's Ward" and "The RM") directorial debut. "Mobsters and Mormons" follows the typical fish-out-of-water plot line. Opportunely, Moyer was able to use his own experiences for the script.
"'Mobsters and Mormons' is a cross between where I grew up and where I live now," Moyer said. "I was raised in the suburbs of South Jersey where the major ethnicity of my high school was Italian American."
Moyer added that his high school friend donned names like Vinny, Tony, and Joey. He also commented that "it was literally like going to school with everybody you see on 'The Sopranos.'"
With a tagline like "The only thing they have in common is the family," "Mobsters and Mormons" opens with Carmine "The Beans" Pasquale (Mark DeCarlo) getting caught by the FBI and rolling over on his contacts in the mob. His family is then given the name Cheeseman and shipped from New York to Utah where they encounter all of the LDS religion's stereotypes.
"Mobsters and Mormons" doesn't really bring anything unique to the films in general but it does bring HaleStorm Entertainment into a different genre. Instead of following a story line of some guy or some girl falling in love "Mobsters" tries to break HaleStorm free of their usual plot line.
The cinematography was amazing as the film moved from the landscapes of New York City at night to Utah's deserts in the day. The scenes carried well throughout the film and DeCarlo grabbed the attention of the audience whenever he was on screen.
DeCarlo played the comic relief perfectly throughout the film. His portrayal of a one-time mob guy stuck in Happy Valley gave the audience something to look forward to in every scene, including his mob rendition of the "Three Little Pigs."
The newest HaleStorm Entertainment family movie was John Moyer's (writer of "The Single's Ward" and "The RM") directorial debut. "Mobsters and Mormons" follows the typical fish-out-of-water plot line. Opportunely, Moyer was able to use his own experiences for the script.
"'Mobsters and Mormons' is a cross between where I grew up and where I live now," Moyer said. "I was raised in the suburbs of South Jersey where the major ethnicity of my high school was Italian American."
Moyer added that his high school friend donned names like Vinny, Tony, and Joey. He also commented that "it was literally like going to school with everybody you see on 'The Sopranos.'"
With a tagline like "The only thing they have in common is the family," "Mobsters and Mormons" opens with Carmine "The Beans" Pasquale (Mark DeCarlo) getting caught by the FBI and rolling over on his contacts in the mob. His family is then given the name Cheeseman and shipped from New York to Utah where they encounter all of the LDS religion's stereotypes.
"Mobsters and Mormons" doesn't really bring anything unique to the films in general but it does bring HaleStorm Entertainment into a different genre. Instead of following a story line of some guy or some girl falling in love "Mobsters" tries to break HaleStorm free of their usual plot line.
The cinematography was amazing as the film moved from the landscapes of New York City at night to Utah's deserts in the day. The scenes carried well throughout the film and DeCarlo grabbed the attention of the audience whenever he was on screen.
DeCarlo played the comic relief perfectly throughout the film. His portrayal of a one-time mob guy stuck in Happy Valley gave the audience something to look forward to in every scene, including his mob rendition of the "Three Little Pigs."
