Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

bobby-connolly Read about 6 reviews here about viewers' responses to this flick T W & T G which were highly laudatory. I very much did appreciate the cinematography and the amount of detail put into making this historically accurate. But the story was weak. The acting for the most part was painful to watch and the people who were supposed to be the founding members of the M church were so nice and polite and industrious that they weren't believable.In watching the scenes, particularly those with Nathan Steed, I felt embarrassed. I felt so embarrassed because of how sanitized the scenes seemed and how awkward his character was even though he was supposed to be so sensitive and loyal and nonjudgmental. The scenes reminded me of another young man who struggles with social and family situations, namely Napoleon Dynamite! But I knew it was okay to laugh out loud at his missteps. Napoleon was a comedy.A matter that was glossed over, I felt, was that in this period of American development quite a few men "found" amazing historical "finds" that today have mostly been proved to be fabrications. There is a petrified man, a giant, who was found during this same period on display in Cooperstown, NY. This crude statue that was supposedly dug up in NY has now been judged as a crude attempt at at creating an antiquity. I believe Mark Twain writes about a similar "discovery."

Tim Rollins After much procrastination, I finally went to see this movie with my wife and a close friend while we were in Utah on a visit from our home in Wisconsin. Truth be told, I was expecting to be somewhat disappointed on a couple of fronts; first, in that the movies are generally not as true to the books as they should be, and second, given that this movie was geared to the LDS community, past movies that were geared to LDS audiences (with the exceptions of The Singles Ward, Brigham City and The Best Two Years) have left me with very low expectations for LDS filmmakers.I am happy to say that this film far exceeded my expectations on both fronts, and has proved that LDS filmmakers can and indeed do produce excellent work that is not limited to Richard Dutcher alone, and that the bar has indeed been considerably raised for future work within the LDS film community. What's more, those who are not of the LDS persuasion will be far less likely to look at LDS movies and giggle and titter, much like I did. Let's face it, fellow church members. Didn't you giggle yourselves silly through some of the cheesy films that were made either by BYU Films or others who could at best be described as wannabes? After all, for the longest time (and I may add, WAY TOO LONG) previous LDS-oriented films at one time were those cheesy second or even third-rate productions that seemed more like after-school projects for BYU students looking for some extra part-time cash.Unlike the abomination that had the gall/temerity to pass itself off as the 'so-called' Book of Mormon 'movie' in which half of any group watching the film had the good sense to get up and walk out, lest that sacred volume of scripture have any more injustice done to it by a bunch of amateurs who should be working at Burger King instead, the dialog in 'The Work and The Glory' was realistic and era-appropriate. The scenery was well-done for the time portrayed, and great attention to detail was paid to ensure that the film was historically accurate while staying true to the book. The characters were well-developed and multi-dimensional, exposing both their flaws and strengths, thus making themselves people that many of us could identify with. Whether it is sibling rivalry as in the two brothers competing for Lydia McBride's heart, or Joseph Smith finding himself thrust into a role he neither sought nor expected, we see through a confluence of events, a meeting of ordinary people under extraordinary circumstances, and that is what makes this film work so well.While overall casting in the film was exceptional, as it pertains to Joseph Smith's role in the film: Jonathan Scarfe was (simply put) inspired casting for the part. I have seen others portray the prophet in the past, but nobody, and I mean NOBODY can hold a candle to Jonathan in his portrayal of young Joseph.Regardless of your religious persuasion – or even if you have no religious leaning at all – 'The Work and The Glory' is a welcome addition to any video library, as it will provide many hours of enjoyable viewing with repeated watching.On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 12/10! ***

Bill Polhemus My wife and I had just completed reading all nine volumes of TW&TG just a month or so previous to our taking in the motion picture. We are fortunate that we live in one of the few areas outside the Wasatch Front that is privileged to get these films for short engagements at one single Mega-plex here in west Houston.I had read reviews here and elsewhere that had led me to believe the quality of the acting would be "below average," but I have to say that I cannot agree. No one is bucking for an "Oscar" here but the acting is at least on the level of your typical made-for-TV miniseries, the like of which were popular in the late-70s and 80s. Even some of the minor characters like that of "Will Murdock" were played quite believably; I did not note much in the way of "hammy" quality even in those scenes where you might expect it (crowd scenes e.g.) With minor changes the story was faithful to the first volume of Lund's "nonology," and although I thought the part of Joseph Smith Jr. was ably played the focus really was on the Steed family and friends and the reactions of those protagonists to what was transpiring.They spent a good amount of script-time on the conflict between the family members--especially Joshua and his father--and I thought did a good job of efficiently moving the story along without the benefit of "backstory" that the novel affords.I think I enjoyed most of all the seemingly accurate depiction of American frontier life in the 1830s (even though like the book, the dialog is glaringly "modern"), and the score.The music's effectiveness was accompanied by a very good audio track that allowed a clear understanding of what was being said (even asides by "extras" during crowd scenes). The sound quality overall was just superb.The camera work was likewise. I am amazed at how well-lighted even a low-budget film like this can be given current technology. There were a few scenes that were rather dim, but I thought this actually contributed to the feeling of being there at a time when coal-lamps were the source of light after dark. One scene of this type that comes to mind was that of Mary Ann Steed reading the concluding verses of the Gospel of John early on an Easter Sunday.All in all, I quite enjoyed this film and will be sure to pick it up on DVD when it is released. I am quite critical of independent LDS films because I think too many of them fail to measure up to the standards set by the BYU Film Department/LDS Film Studios' official releases for the Church, most of which are about as good as they come.I thought The Work and the Glory set the bar a little higher, and hope that the production company is able to realize a profit on the release so that we might possibly look forward to a continuation of the Steed saga in future releases based on the Lund series of books.

fthorsen The movie was as great as the the book it was based upon. I sincerely hope they make the rest of the series into movies as well.The Work and the Glory has beautifully captured the hopes, fears, and prejudices of that era, and woven them into a fictional account as only Gerald Lund can do.The entire cast was wonderful, and they couldn't have picked a better actor to play Joseph.Emotions run high in this film, and you'll find yourself laughing, crying, and wanting to shout for joy.If you are looking for a great movie with good family values, this one is certainly worth seeing.