If you’ve been waiting since Brigham City for a good LDS movie cop chase, your wait is over. This film mixes the seedy, underworld families of the mob with the seedy families of LDS Utah. If that isn’t a scary combination, I don’t know what is.

The comedy, from Halestorm, is a very creative mixing of two different worlds. While the Mobsters in this film – FBI stool pigeons in the witness protection program – learn a lot from their new Utah-Mormon neighbors, they bring some interesting ideas to Church culture (including some interesting Paintball tactics). The combination is very funny, and the actors playing the mobster family to a great job.

As I said, there are some genuinely hilarious moments in the film – which I won’t ruin here for you. At the same time you’ll want to brace yourself for another round of the classic Mormon jokes. For all the creativity that went in to the film, at points I wished they’d resisted the urge to make another polygamy or caffeine joke. In the first few days the Pasquale family spends in Utah, they get so bombarded with Utah cliché that you start to identify more with them than the members of the Church.

Having said that, I should say that I really did enjoy the movie. Apart from some of the cheesy LDS humor, there is an interesting plot that moves well throughout the movie, there are endearing characters and unforgettable moments. Best of all is the transformations that occur in the main characters. My favorite of these is Mark DeCarlo’s character Carmine “The Beans” Pasquale, the father of the mob family.

From the production side, the film is pristine. The film opens with a night-time fly-over of New York that starts the movie off with a Hollywood feel. When we meet up with “The Beans” we’re treated to some real mob/police drama that is exciting, but noticeable toned down in violence. Once the family is hidden away in Salt Lake, the scenery becomes familiar – as do a few members of the cast.

The film is a comedy, but also successfully deals with struggles faced in high-density LDS communities and family dynamics of both members and non-members. There’s action and intrigue too, making this a very well rounded and entertaining flick for the whole family.

Again, my only complaint is some of the excessively cheesy humor. This doesn’t keep the show from being interesting or fun. For a different but enjoyable family movie, Mobsters and Mormons is an excellent choice.

The DVD will be available December 13th, and can be purchased at hstorm.com.