Mobsters and Mormons
Encyclopedia
Mobsters and Mormons is a 2005 comedy film
. It was written, directed, and produced by John Moyer
who also plays a role in the film. It is also produced by Kurt Hale and Dave Hunter of Halestorm Entertainment
. This film features some The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) centric humor that is meant to appeal to Mormon
audiences, humor that people who are not LDS are not likely to get, as well as some humor aimed at non-Mormon audiences.
Carmine, portrayed by Mark DeCarlo
, is part of the mob in Philadelphia
, hoping to soon be promoted to captain. While taking care of business, he and his team are photographed by the FBI
performing illegal activities. After some discussion, Carmine decides to testify against his boss, then goes into the Witness Protection Program. His family is moved to Utah, in the heart of the Mormon Corridor
.
, United States.
The dialogue begins at a wedding reception at the table of three mobsters. Carmine Pasquale (Mark DeCarlo) is complaining about the taste of the coffee. We find out later that Carmine has the nickname of "The Beans" because he orders a very special type of coffee bean that he grinds himself. When he sees a young man walk through the room, he and his team leaves the table, following the young man.
In a recent jewelry store robbery, two necklaces went missing. Carmine and his team are questioning the young man to find out what happened to the necklaces. Carmine tells his team to tie him up. Carmine goes to talk to the boss, Angello Marcello, where he finds out that someone else got the promotion to captain that he was hoping to get. When he gets back to the room, the young man has been duct tape
d, so the three mobsters have to carry him out to the car. This is when the FBI manages to get the incriminating photographs. When the mobsters make a stop to pick up the necklaces, the police close in and arrest them.
When Carmine is being interviewed, the FBI agents say that they have enough to put him away for twenty to twenty-five years. Carmine won't talk until the agents say that they will let it be known that Carmine did talk. The next scene is Carmine with his wife, Gina (Jeanette Puhich), and son, Vincent (Clayton Taylor) watching the news report of the conviction of Angello. They then get their new identities in the Witness Protection Program as George, Linda and Patrick Cheeseman to Happy Valley, Utah.
Meanwhile, in the neighborhood in to which the Cheesemans will be moving, the bishop of the local ward has to leave the church meeting because he was paged with a family emergency. His first counselor, Brother Jaymes, is left in charge of the meeting. By the time that the Jaymes family arrives at home, we find out that the bishop's father has died and the bishop will be in a distant community for a few weeks taking care of the funeral and deciding (with the rest of his family) on the disposition of the family farm.
What follows is culture shock, on both sides. When the neighborhood men attempt to help them move in, George (Carmine) thinks they're stealing their stuff so he punches one of them in the face. The next to visit the Cheesemans is the neighborhood busybody
, who is on the phone the minute she leaves their house and turns most of the neighborhood (all Mormons) against the Cheesemans (Catholic
s). The next to visit is the Jaymes family, who befriends the Cheeseman family, inviting them to participate in ward activities. Throughout the film, the Jaymes family does manage to get a few more of the neighbors to befriend the Cheeseman family. The members of the Cheeseman family also becomes closer to each other, and begin attending the local Catholic church as a family.
But the mobsters have recently hired an IT
guy. He has found that since Carmine's disappearance, there has only been one new home address ordering the special beans that Carmine likes. A team of two is sent to take care of Carmine. When they show up to verify that Carmine lives at the address, Carmine spots them and takes off on foot. There is a short car chase that ends with the FBI capturing the mobsters. The FBI uses an insider to leak that the team was captured before Carmine found out about them, knowing that another team will be sent. After leaving a dinner at the local ward, the Cheesemans get in their van and it blows up.
The next Sunday, it is revealed that the ward bishop
is going to move to take care of his recently-widow
ed mother and the family farm. Michael Jaymes is called by the stake president
to become the next bishop of this ward. About half of the ward members vote against supporting Michael Jaymes as bishop. The stake president calls a special meeting of the ward (without the Jaymes family present) to find out why they will not support Jaymes as bishop. George (Carmine), having found out about them not supporting Jaymes, shows up at the meeting to speak on behalf of Michael Jaymes. Since he has revealed that he is alive, he and his family also go to visit the Jaymes family. The stake president stops by later and tells Michael Jaymes that he will be the bishop.
The movie's final scene takes place six months later, in a scrapbooking
store at an "undisclosed location". Scrapbooking was so popular in Utah that Donald and May Clayton (aka
Cheeseman, aka Pasquale) family have opened a scrapbooking store and run it along with their son Jordan. The Mormon missionaries are buying a book in the store, and Donald tells them that it is "on the house". Donald also invites them over for dinner, but no message. The movie ends with Donald telling the missionaries about his wife's cooking.
When deciding to make the film, writer/director John Moyer (comedian) made a conscious decision to use the term Mormon as that is the term most people who are not members of the LDS church identify with.
of the LDS Church urging members to be friendly and neighborly to people regardless of their religion. "... Let us as Latter-day Saints reach out to others not of our faith. Let us never act in a spirit of arrogance or with a holier-than-thou attitude. Rather, may we show love and respect and helpfulness toward them. We are greatly misunderstood, and I fear that much of it is of our own making. We can be more tolerant, more neighborly, more friendly, more of an example than we have been in the past. Let us teach our children to treat others with friendship, respect, love, and admiration. That will yield a far better result than will an attitude of egotism and arrogance." — Church President Gordon B. Hinckley
, April 2000. "... Let us be good people. Let us be friendly people. Let us be neighborly people." — President Hinckley, 31 March 2001
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
. It was written, directed, and produced by John Moyer
John Moyer (comedian, screenwriter)
John Moyer is an American stand-up comedian, screenwriter, actor and film producer. Moyer co-wrote the screenplays for The Singles Ward, The R.M., and The Home Teachers...
who also plays a role in the film. It is also produced by Kurt Hale and Dave Hunter of Halestorm Entertainment
Halestorm Entertainment
Halestorm Entertainment is a film production and distribution company based in Orem, Utah. It was founded in January 2001 by Kurt Hale and Dave Hunter...
. This film features some The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) centric humor that is meant to appeal to Mormon
Mormons
The Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, a religion started by Joseph Smith during the American Second Great Awakening. A vast majority of Mormons are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while a minority are members of other independent churches....
audiences, humor that people who are not LDS are not likely to get, as well as some humor aimed at non-Mormon audiences.
Carmine, portrayed by Mark DeCarlo
Mark DeCarlo
Mark DeCarlo is an American actor.DeCarlo is the voice of Hugh Neutron on the television show Jimmy Neutron. He hosted the Travel Channel's Taste of America with Mark DeCarlo for 2 seasons in 2004 and 2005, and is also known as the host of the early 1990s dating game show Studs...
, is part of the mob in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, hoping to soon be promoted to captain. While taking care of business, he and his team are photographed by the FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
performing illegal activities. After some discussion, Carmine decides to testify against his boss, then goes into the Witness Protection Program. His family is moved to Utah, in the heart of the Mormon Corridor
Mormon Corridor
The Mormon Corridor is a term for the areas of Western North America that were settled between 1850 and approximately 1890 by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , who are commonly known as Mormons....
.
Main cast
- Mark DeCarloMark DeCarloMark DeCarlo is an American actor.DeCarlo is the voice of Hugh Neutron on the television show Jimmy Neutron. He hosted the Travel Channel's Taste of America with Mark DeCarlo for 2 seasons in 2004 and 2005, and is also known as the host of the early 1990s dating game show Studs...
as Carmine "The Beans" Zindelli Pasquale (George Cheeseman) - Jeanette Puhich as Gina Pasquale (Linda Cheeseman)
- Clayton Taylor as Vincent Pasquale (Patrick Cheeseman)
- Scott ChristopherScott ChristopherScott Christopher is an American actor who has had key roles in such films as Mobsters and Mormons and The Best Two Years. He also played in Down and Derby....
as Michael Jaymes - Britani BatemanBritani BatemanBritani Bateman is an American actress. She played the lead female role in The R.M. and also had an important part in Mobsters and Mormons and a minor role in Believe ....
as Kate Jaymes - Olesya RulinOlesya RulinOlesya Rulin is a Russian-American actress and singer who is perhaps best known for co-starring in the first three films of the High School Musical franchise as Kelsi Nielsen. She also starred in the films Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous and Flying By .-Early life:Rulin was born Olesya...
as Julie Jaymes - Jan Broberg FeltJan Broberg FeltJan Broberg Felt is an American actress, singer and dancer. She has appeared in over a dozen feature films. Some of her film credits include: Slaughter Of The Innocents , Poof Point , Message In A Cell Phone , The Secret Keeper , Bug Off, The ButterCream Gang, , Hope For Troubled Teens, Nadir,...
as Louise Means - John Moyer as Agent Tuttle
- Michael Kagan as Angello Marcello
Story
The opening credits roll over a flying, nighttime stock footage shot of downtown Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, United States.
The dialogue begins at a wedding reception at the table of three mobsters. Carmine Pasquale (Mark DeCarlo) is complaining about the taste of the coffee. We find out later that Carmine has the nickname of "The Beans" because he orders a very special type of coffee bean that he grinds himself. When he sees a young man walk through the room, he and his team leaves the table, following the young man.
In a recent jewelry store robbery, two necklaces went missing. Carmine and his team are questioning the young man to find out what happened to the necklaces. Carmine tells his team to tie him up. Carmine goes to talk to the boss, Angello Marcello, where he finds out that someone else got the promotion to captain that he was hoping to get. When he gets back to the room, the young man has been duct tape
Duct tape
Duct tape, or duck tape, is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure sensitive tape often sealed with polyethylene. It is very similar to gaffer tape but differs in that gaffer tape was designed to be cleanly removed, while duct tape was not. It has a standard width of and is generally silver or black...
d, so the three mobsters have to carry him out to the car. This is when the FBI manages to get the incriminating photographs. When the mobsters make a stop to pick up the necklaces, the police close in and arrest them.
When Carmine is being interviewed, the FBI agents say that they have enough to put him away for twenty to twenty-five years. Carmine won't talk until the agents say that they will let it be known that Carmine did talk. The next scene is Carmine with his wife, Gina (Jeanette Puhich), and son, Vincent (Clayton Taylor) watching the news report of the conviction of Angello. They then get their new identities in the Witness Protection Program as George, Linda and Patrick Cheeseman to Happy Valley, Utah.
Meanwhile, in the neighborhood in to which the Cheesemans will be moving, the bishop of the local ward has to leave the church meeting because he was paged with a family emergency. His first counselor, Brother Jaymes, is left in charge of the meeting. By the time that the Jaymes family arrives at home, we find out that the bishop's father has died and the bishop will be in a distant community for a few weeks taking care of the funeral and deciding (with the rest of his family) on the disposition of the family farm.
What follows is culture shock, on both sides. When the neighborhood men attempt to help them move in, George (Carmine) thinks they're stealing their stuff so he punches one of them in the face. The next to visit the Cheesemans is the neighborhood busybody
Gossip
Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others, It is one of the oldest and most common means of sharing facts and views, but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and variations into the information transmitted...
, who is on the phone the minute she leaves their house and turns most of the neighborhood (all Mormons) against the Cheesemans (Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
s). The next to visit is the Jaymes family, who befriends the Cheeseman family, inviting them to participate in ward activities. Throughout the film, the Jaymes family does manage to get a few more of the neighbors to befriend the Cheeseman family. The members of the Cheeseman family also becomes closer to each other, and begin attending the local Catholic church as a family.
But the mobsters have recently hired an IT
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
guy. He has found that since Carmine's disappearance, there has only been one new home address ordering the special beans that Carmine likes. A team of two is sent to take care of Carmine. When they show up to verify that Carmine lives at the address, Carmine spots them and takes off on foot. There is a short car chase that ends with the FBI capturing the mobsters. The FBI uses an insider to leak that the team was captured before Carmine found out about them, knowing that another team will be sent. After leaving a dinner at the local ward, the Cheesemans get in their van and it blows up.
The next Sunday, it is revealed that the ward bishop
Bishop (Mormonism)
Bishop is the highest priesthood office of the Aaronic priesthood in the Latter Day Saint movement. A bishop is usually the leader of a local congregation of church members. The Latter Day Saint concept of the office differs significantly from the role of bishops in other Christian denominations,...
is going to move to take care of his recently-widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
ed mother and the family farm. Michael Jaymes is called by the stake president
Stake (Mormonism)
A stake is an administrative unit composed of multiple congregations in denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. A stake is approximately comparable to a diocese in the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations...
to become the next bishop of this ward. About half of the ward members vote against supporting Michael Jaymes as bishop. The stake president calls a special meeting of the ward (without the Jaymes family present) to find out why they will not support Jaymes as bishop. George (Carmine), having found out about them not supporting Jaymes, shows up at the meeting to speak on behalf of Michael Jaymes. Since he has revealed that he is alive, he and his family also go to visit the Jaymes family. The stake president stops by later and tells Michael Jaymes that he will be the bishop.
The movie's final scene takes place six months later, in a scrapbooking
Scrapbooking
Scrapbooking is a method for preserving personal and family history in the form of a scrapbook. Typical memorabilia include photographs, printed media, and artwork. Scrapbook albums are often decorated and frequently contain extensive journaling...
store at an "undisclosed location". Scrapbooking was so popular in Utah that Donald and May Clayton (aka
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Cheeseman, aka Pasquale) family have opened a scrapbooking store and run it along with their son Jordan. The Mormon missionaries are buying a book in the store, and Donald tells them that it is "on the house". Donald also invites them over for dinner, but no message. The movie ends with Donald telling the missionaries about his wife's cooking.
Box office
The film was made on a budget of $350,000 but only brought in $409,604 in total box office revenues. It was however, released to only a limited number of theaters throughout Utah, Arizona, and Idaho; an area predominately known among LDS circles as the Jello Belt. The film has found success across the board on DVD for both LDS and non-LDS audiences alike.Mormon
This film consistently uses the term Mormon Church when referring to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Mormon to refer to the members of this church. See Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Name of the church for its preference for name usage.When deciding to make the film, writer/director John Moyer (comedian) made a conscious decision to use the term Mormon as that is the term most people who are not members of the LDS church identify with.
Non-association phenomenon
This film openly condemns a problem that has also been addressed in talks at the Annual and Semi-annual General ConferencesGeneral conference (Mormonism)
In the Latter Day Saint movement, a general conference is a meeting for all members of the church for conducting general church business and instruction....
of the LDS Church urging members to be friendly and neighborly to people regardless of their religion. "... Let us as Latter-day Saints reach out to others not of our faith. Let us never act in a spirit of arrogance or with a holier-than-thou attitude. Rather, may we show love and respect and helpfulness toward them. We are greatly misunderstood, and I fear that much of it is of our own making. We can be more tolerant, more neighborly, more friendly, more of an example than we have been in the past. Let us teach our children to treat others with friendship, respect, love, and admiration. That will yield a far better result than will an attitude of egotism and arrogance." — Church President Gordon B. Hinckley
Gordon B. Hinckley
Gordon Bitner Hinckley was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from March 12, 1995 until his death...
, April 2000. "... Let us be good people. Let us be friendly people. Let us be neighborly people." — President Hinckley, 31 March 2001
Trivia
- The line "Leave the gun. Take the granolaGranolaGranola is a breakfast food and snack food, popular in North America, consisting of rolled oats, nuts, honey, and sometimes rice, that is usually baked until crisp. During the baking process the mixture is stirred to maintain a loose, breakfast cereal-type consistency...
," is a parody of "Leave the gun. Take the cannoliCannoliCannoli are Sicilian pastry desserts. The singular is cannolo , meaning "little tube", with the etymology stemming from the Latin "canna", or reed. Cannoli originated in Sicily and are an essential part of Sicilian cuisine...
," from the film of The GodfatherThe GodfatherThe Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
. - Britani BatemanBritani BatemanBritani Bateman is an American actress. She played the lead female role in The R.M. and also had an important part in Mobsters and Mormons and a minor role in Believe ....
, who plays Michael Jaymes' wife, was actually pregnantPregnancyPregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
while filming this movie. Writer/director John E. Moyer wrote the part especially for Britani. When casting the film he learned of her pregnancy and reworked the script to have her character be pregnant as well. - Originally, director John E. Moyer was interested in having LDS actor Dave Nibley from The Best Two Years play Agent Tuttle, but Dave's schedule conflicted with the filming and at last minute stepped in to play the role of Agent Tuttle.
See also
- The Singles WardThe Singles WardThe Singles Ward is a 2002 LDS cinema comedy film directed by Kurt Hale and written by Kurt Hale and John E. Moyer based on his own life as a stand up comedian and single member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
— 2001 - The R.M.The R.M.The R.M. is a 2003 comedy film about the experiences of an LDS returned missionary. "RM" is an LDS initialism for "returned missionary." It was written by Kurt Hale and John E. Moyer and directed by Kurt Hale.-Overview:...
— 2003 - The Home TeachersThe Home TeachersThe Home Teachers is a 2004 comedy film written by John Moyer and directed by Kurt Hale. The Home Teachers is a comedy distributed by Halestorm Entertainment and intended for LDS audiences, or members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints....
— 2004 - Church BallChurch BallChurch Ball is a 2006 comedy film about a basketball team from an LDS church ward.This family-film and comedy was filmed in and around Provo, Utah and is distributed by Halestorm Entertainment.-Plot synopsis:...
— 2005