At the Movies: 'The Other Side of Heaven'

By Sheila Norman-Culp
Associated Press Writer

Filmed on location in New Zealand and the Cook Island of Rarotonga, "The Other Side of Heaven" is rated PG for thematic elements and brief disturbing images. Two stars (out of four). Running time: 113 minutes.

"Yes!" says John Groberg, an Idaho farm boy who deftly navigates a foreign culture as a Mormon missionary in Mitch Davis' sweet coming-of-age tale "The Other Side of Heaven."

The film opens in 1953 at Brigham Young University, and Groberg (Christopher Gorham) is a young Mormon horn player who doesn't like that his girlfriend Jean (Anne Hathaway of "The Princess Diaries" fame) is dancing with another guy. So he hops off the stage and takes her to a nearby park — where they clamber onto a children's swing.

Knowing that his years-long stint as a missionary was coming up soon, he assures her: "We'll be under the same moon."

But what Groberg doesn't know forms the heart of this wry, gentle comedy. The young man who had never before seen an ocean would spend several months on the world's largest — traveling to the tiny Pacific island of Niuatoputapu, part of Tonga. Preaching to a village in which only one person spoke English, he would find customs that were, say we say, quite different from Idaho Falls. And he would miss Jean terribly.

Based on Groberg's memoir, "The Other Side of Heaven" is truly a family-friendly film.

For those weaned on racier fare, special effects and sarcastic retorts, the movie could be a snore. For those unaccustomed to a frank acknowledgment of one's faith, it could be a bit preachy.

But the humor is universal (What should a religious 19-year-old do when a local maiden takes off her sarong?), the Pacific island setting is spectacular, and the true-life story has its intriguing aspects.

Groberg faced real challenges 50 years ago. The island had no electricity or medical supplies and villagers were left on the edge of starvation after a hurricane roared through and devastated the crops. Young Tongan women were sometimes sold off for nothing more than cases of rum and a rival preacher was none too pleased at Groberg's arrival, sending goons to beat him up.

The hurricane scene is particularly well done — fierce winds turn corrugated tin roofs into horrifying projectiles.

Gorham, better known for playing Harrison on the TV show "Popular," is well cast as the earnestly naive missionary who grows into a man any mother would be proud of. His Pacific Island partner Feki (played by Tongan Joe Folau) delivers some good chuckles as he tries to keep Groberg out of trouble.

The movie was a labor of love for first-time writer-director Davis, a BYU graduate who went on a mission himself to Argentina. This low-budget film is so professionally done in such an exotic locale that no one would ever think it was accomplished by a rookie.