The new theatrical version of Saturday’s Warrior opened in nine theaters in Utah on April 1. Michael Buster, the director, was the screenwriter and a lead actor in the film Out of Step, and played the rebellious Elder Kinegar in God’s Army. It is written by Michael Buster, Heather Ravarino, Lex de Azevedo (the original composer), with a screenplay by Michael Buster and Heather Ravarino. De Azevedo and two of his daughters, Emilie de Azevedo Brown and Rachel Coleman, are producers, along with Ravarino and Jarrod Phillips. Doug Stewart, the original 1974 play’s book writer, does not appear to be directly involved.
Derrick Clements, Daily Herald. A-. Clements frames his review as a letter to a skeptical friend.
“I wasn’t expecting to find it so easy to lose myself in this movie’s magic. For most of my life, I haven’t even thought anything was magical at all about this theologically controversial exploration of obscure Mormon beliefs, dramatized and songified. But when the movie starts out with Alex Boye’s heavenly host doing some narrative world-building through song and dance — a world, I must point out, that I have literally never seen except in my head during Sunday School growing up, I even surprised myself at how into it I was. If you’ve seen the 1989 video, it’s very easy to think “Saturday’s Warrior” is going to be a cheesy embarrassment. But somehow, the filmmakers have managed to take a story that could so easily become cheesy and make something I can believe in and am invested in. The way they do it is by updating some things while preserving the essential earnestness of the original. It would have been a misstep to inject cynicism into this story. Instead, it manages to feel updated, thoughtful and — are you ready, Greg? — complex. Yes, the complexity is what makes a lot of this movie work. It’s not a story of the Good Mormons and the Bad World. Characters — Mormon and not — have big flaws as well as virtues. When Jimmy and his dad have a fight, I completely buy it, from both sides. I believe it when Dad wants Jimmy to get a haircut, and I believe it when Jimmy criticizes Dad for never once questioning what church leaders say. And I believe it when they try with varying degrees of success, to express how they actually feel about each other. As you know, Mormon cinema has put out some duds. Part of the reason why is that many films dilute Mormonism for a general public — either they say, “See, we’re not weird,” or “We’re weird, but also we’re perfect.” This one, unlike the worst of what has come before, is willing to present Mormon theology and culture as not always reaching the ideals it sets out with. And whereas many LDS films leave Mormon theology unexplored or examined — this one goes all in. In fact, it even feels kind of punk at times, in the way it plays with very uniquely Mormon concepts of heaven without feeling the need to always stay “approved” or correlated. It doesn’t all work. When the characters break into song, sometimes the difference in the audio tracks is jarring, in an old Hollywood musical sort of way. But for me, where it counts — the characters’ motivations, the performances, and the dialogue, most notably — it really does sing. And those songs. They’re objectively fun — and moving — decked out in their shiny, new, full orchestration. Here is where I need to admit that I cried — several times — during “Saturday’s Warrior.” I felt my fingers judging me as they wiped tears from my eyeballs, but darn it, by the end, even they slapped themselves together in applause as the credits rolled. I get it, Greg. It’s not the reaction I expected to have. But it is what it is. I loved “Saturday’s Warrior,” and I’ll put it up among my favorite entries into the Mormon Cinematic Universe.”
Sean P. Means, Salt Lake Tribune. 2 stars.
“Since its 1974 debut, the material and messages within composer Lex de Azevedo and lyricist Doug Stewart haven’t aged particularly well — as the new movie version, long anticipated by its fans, proves in spite of solid efforts to update and contextualize the story. That story starts in a heavenly realm, what Mormons call the premortal existence. It’s a transfer point where a Heavenly Guide (played by popular Utah singer Alex Boyé) directs souls who are waiting for their turn to be born on Earth. (Appropriately for a transitory spot, it’s filmed in the Union Station train depot in Ogden.) . . . Rookie director Michael Buster, a veteran actor in LDS-themed productions, labors mightily to scale back on the theatrical cheese of de Azevedo’s original theatrical production. He and his co-screenwriter, Heather Ravarino, try to ground the story in some sort of reality, for example by making the Flinders family musicians — all the better to break into song on cue. Purists may be upset at how much Buster and de Azevedo, one of the film’s producers, have cut from the theatrical version. But for everyone else, what’s still here is a time capsule of the tacky ’70s, an explosion of paisley and bell bottoms that’s as quaint as the political arguments. (Does anybody still talk about zero population growth?) The oversimplified theology, of spirit children and soulmates, also seems like a creaky anachronism with some holes in logic. How do the Flinders siblings know they’re all going to the same family, while the lovers don’t know if they will meet on Earth? How does one group of preborn souls know Heavenly Father’s plan, while another is left in the dark? For the devoted following this musical has built over four decades, the movie will feel like a familiar throwback. For the rest of us, “Saturday’s Warrior” isn’t likely to gain any new converts.”
Josh Terry, Deseret News. 2.5 stars.
“”Saturday’s Warrior” feels like a time capsule of 1970s LDS popular culture. Its narrative, style and especially its music are evocative of its time. This makes it a great vehicle for nostalgia, especially for fans of the Lex de Azevedo musical on which the film is based, but it also gives the film a dated feel that mutes its impact . . . Longtime fans of the original will be happy to hear many of the original de Azevedo songs in the new film, as well as a couple of brand-new numbers. For the most part, the film strives to be faithful to its source material, and though “Saturday’s Warrior” touches on subject matter that carries weight today, it feels more like a celebration of its own past. Fans of contemporary LDS pop culture will be happy to see cameos from musicians such as Alex Boye and Jon Schmidt. Audiences should also be sure to listen close to the airport PA system during Elder Kestler’s departure scene for another in-joke. Beneath the camp, “Saturday’s Warrior” does offer some sincerity. Elder Kestler’s humbling experience in San Francisco and Tod’s search for meaning are especially thoughtful threads. And the film does speculate on the interpretation of doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, marking one of the few times, if not the only time, a big screen production has explicitly depicted the relationship between mortality and the pre-existence. Overall, though, “Saturday’s Warrior” flirts with these ideas more than it explores them, and the final product is more nostalgic than moving. But if the goal of “Saturday’s Warrior” was simply to bring the LDS musical to the big screen, its mission has been accomplished.”
Jenny Garrard, By Common Consent. 3 out of 5 Kolob twinkles.
“[The Flinders’] problems seem almost precious compared to today’s (I can almost imagine a circa 2016 Mr. Flinders trying to convince Jimmy that it’s not the feelings that are a sin; it’s just acting on them that’s the problem.). But just like in the original play, the simplicity of the problems is what draws attention to the family relationships affected by them. Alison Akin Clark and Brian Clark, a real-life couple playing Flinders family parents Terri and Adam, alternate between comedic performances that come across as awkward caricatures of typical Mormon parents, and more sincere scenes in which they struggle, wondering what more they could have done to help Jimmy stay on the straight and narrow path (Didn’t we love him?! DIDN’T WE RAISE HIM WELL???). These characters are slightly more nuanced than in the original; the parents have unfulfilled ambitions of their own, and movie-version Terri is more than simply a good-natured baby factory . . . de Azevedo and director Michael Buster didn’t need a huge budget to craft this film to appeal to the Mormon masses. They clearly know just who their audience is, and indicate it by serving up little winks and nods to Mormon culture: a Donny Osmond mention, an Uchtdorf reference (No, seriously.), and cameos by Steven Sharp Nelson and Jon Schmidt from The Piano Guys. Which leads me to a word about the music: The songs and lyrics are part of what have made Saturday’s Warrior iconic. But for an updated version, it was surprising that some of the songs had not changed much at all. You get what you’ve signed up for: Elders Kestler and Green singing an entertaining enough “Humble Way,” Julie and Tod reflecting on the size and scope of the circle of their love, Jimmy and friends singing about abortion, a couple okay-ish new songs, and having “Line upon line upon, LINE upon line upon, LIIIINE. UP. ON. LIIIIIINE. Upon liiiiiine,” stuck in your head for days. To be very blunt, I was prepared to sort of hate the whole thing. I’m the person who snorts when someone brings up The Work and The Glory in testimony meeting. I roll my eyes when the Relief Society teacher pops in a Hilary Weeks CD to start off her lesson. I just tend to be cynical about some of the cheesier parts of Mormon culture. But by the time the closing credits started to roll, and I was feeling the feels of the prodigal Jimmy reuniting with his family, some of the feels were coming down out of my eyes “like gentle rain through darkened skies.” Saturday’s Warrior is pretty good, and will likely remain a dependable old friend, if not my Mormon-movie eternal soulmate. I give Saturday’s Warrior 3 out of 5 Kolob twinkles (Angel Moroni statuettes? CTR shields?) for being exactly what it needed to be, and for Jimmy (Kenny Holland is darling, and the best actor and singer in the show, by a long shot.).”
Doug Stewart, the book author, talks about the creation and development of the play in this feature at Meridian Magazine.
Salt Lake Tribune feature story.
Daily Herald feature story, featuring quotes from the composer and executive producer Lex de Azevedo.