The Best Two Years
Encyclopedia
The Best Two Years is a 2003 dramedy film
written
and directed by Scott S. Anderson
. It is based on the stage play The Best Two Years of My Life, also by Anderson. It portrays the experience of four LDS missionaries
living in an apartment in the Holland region of the Netherlands
. The stage play had one setting, the apartment of the missionaries. The movie does expand upon the play's setting, with some filming taking place in the Netherlands, but much of the movie still takes place in the apartment.
The writer, Scott Anderson, and producer, Michael Flynn
, perceive this movie as a comedy
. Others see this movie as a drama
. The movie has elements of both.
. The movie begins with Elder Rogers finding out that his new companion will be a "greenie", a newly trained missionary fresh from the Missionary Training Center
. He and the other two missionaries that reside in the same apartment, Elder Johnson and Elder Van Pelt, go to the train
station
to meet the new elder. Elder Rogers finds out that the new missionary, Elder Calhoun, is exactly what he imagines a new missionary would be like.
Elder Rogers used to be an excellent missionary, until his girlfriend married one of his former mission companions. That is why he and the other two missionaries residing in the same apartment are surprised that the mission president has assigned him to be the trainer (first companion and mentor) to a missionary new to the mission.
The new missionary, Elder Calhoun, tackles mission work with unbounded enthusiasm. He will try to talk to anyone even though he barely knows the Dutch language
. 'Barely' is an understatement, since he doesn't know how to speak Dutch, nor does he understand it when someone speaks Dutch to him. But that doesn't stop him from trying.
Fortunately for him, he soon encounters a man from the United States
that speaks English
. They speak briefly in the park before the man goes off with his girlfriend. Later, when he encounters the same man in a market, Calhoun gives him a Dutch Book of Mormon
with his telephone number. Despite what the other three missionaries expect, the man does call and asks for Calhoun.
The man doesn't want to meet the missionaries in his own apartment because his roommates wouldn't understand. The missionaries arrange for him to meet them in their apartment. When he tries to give back the Book of Mormon because he doesn't read Dutch, they promptly give him one in English. Despite his obvious desire to leave immediately, the missionaries find out his name (Kyle Harrison) and teach him a discussion (short lesson) about Joseph Smith and Joseph's First Vision
. Afterwards, Kyle would truly like to know more, so the missionaries schedule another discussion.
Tension has been building throughout the entire movie between Elder Johnson and Elder Van Pelt. Earlier, Johnson had received an audio tape from his girlfriend. He hasn't been able to play the tape for several days because Van Pelt had lent their tape player to a ward member. Also, Van Pelt is annoyed by Johnson's repeated use of the word "flip", as a mild substitute for any of a number of profane
words. Johnson had told Van Pelt to hit him every time he used that word, but while waiting outside the apartment Johnson says it, and frustrated with Van Pelt for always hitting him, physically forces him to stop, showing his anger. This tension culminates outside of the missionary apartment just as Kyle is leaving from his first discussion. As he is leaving, Johnson and Van Pelt are looking in, hoping for him to leave soon. However, Johnson states: "Oh, flip! They're just standing around in there!" Forgetting Johnson's threats if he does so again, Van Pelt hits Johnson on the back, relatively hard. Johnson chases Van Pelt around, and eventually, as Kyle is on his way out of the door, Van Pelt enters and hides. Johnson quickly bursts in as well, smashing Kyle behind the door. He demands to know where Van Pelt is, and misunderstands most of what Rogers says and only hears the "Behind the door" part. He angrily starts to smash Kyle even more, until he realized what he just did. Rogers and Calhoun leave with Kyle out the door, but rush back in when they hear Van Pelt scream. They run in to see that Johnson has just hogtie
d Van Pelt with a rope when the mission president arrives in the apartment.
President Sandburg gives Johnson and Van Pelt a mild, but appropriate and effective, reprimand for their misbehavior. (Prescriptions were respectively and .) He recommends Elder Calhoun work on his Dutch, (amusingly Calhoun had, in Dutch, stated: "With all the walking and bike riding, my rear end has become quite beautiful."), and gently reprimands Rogers for not having written letters to his mother for a while, and persuades him to send at least one letter a week home for the remainder of his mission.
Things start to get worse for Elder Johnson when the president has to talk to him and Van Pelt decides to listen to his tape from his girlfriend. At the end of the tape, Johnson's girlfriend reveals she is getting married to a returned missionary after dating him for three weeks.
The second discussion with Kyle is followed by several more, again in the missionaries' apartment. He does decide to be become a member of the Church. The baptism
is scheduled for the Saturday just over a week from then. Kyle chooses Rogers to baptize him, to the great surprise of Rogers.
Johnson starts to resemble Elder Rogers when he starts to not do his work and jokingly says that the zone leaders are coming to promote Van Pelt because of Van Pelts' high hopes, like those Rogers had when his girlfriend broke up with him. Afterwards, Rogers convinces him to not do the same thing he did after Calhoun and Van Pelt leave for a store.
The baptism takes place in a river
as scheduled, on the same day that Rogers is leaving for home. There are long good-byes at the train station
. And in the station, with Rogers looking on from the train, Calhoun finally understands and speaks Dutch well.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
written
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and directed by Scott S. Anderson
Scott S. Anderson
Scott S. Anderson was the writer and director of the film The Best Two Years. This was an adaptation for film of his earlier stage production The Best Two Years of My Life....
. It is based on the stage play The Best Two Years of My Life, also by Anderson. It portrays the experience of four LDS missionaries
Mormon missionary
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
living in an apartment in the Holland region of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The stage play had one setting, the apartment of the missionaries. The movie does expand upon the play's setting, with some filming taking place in the Netherlands, but much of the movie still takes place in the apartment.
The writer, Scott Anderson, and producer, Michael Flynn
Michael Flynn
Michael Francis Flynn is an American statistician and science fiction author.Nearly all of Flynn's work falls under the category of hard science fiction, although his treatment of it can be unusual since he has applied the rigor of hard science fiction to "softer" sciences such as sociology in...
, perceive this movie as a comedy
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...
. Others see this movie as a drama
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
. The movie has elements of both.
Featured cast
- K.C. Clyde as Elder John Rogers
- Kirby HeyborneKirby HeyborneKirby Heyborne is an actor, musician, singer-songwriter, and comedian known for his work in LDS films.-Biography:Heyborne graduated from Alta High School in 1995 where he was student body president. He served a full time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Dominican...
as Elder Hezekiah Calhoun - David Nibley as Elder Emmit Johnson
- Cameron Hopkin as Elder Steven Van Pelt
- 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 Kyle Harrison - Michael Flynn as President Sandburg (and producer)
Plot
The Best Two Years portrays the experience of four missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in the same apartment in the Holland region of the NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The movie begins with Elder Rogers finding out that his new companion will be a "greenie", a newly trained missionary fresh from the Missionary Training Center
Missionary Training Center
Missionary Training Centers are centers devoted to training missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The flagship MTC is located in Provo, Utah, USA, adjacent to the campus of Brigham Young University....
. He and the other two missionaries that reside in the same apartment, Elder Johnson and Elder Van Pelt, go to the train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
station
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
to meet the new elder. Elder Rogers finds out that the new missionary, Elder Calhoun, is exactly what he imagines a new missionary would be like.
Elder Rogers used to be an excellent missionary, until his girlfriend married one of his former mission companions. That is why he and the other two missionaries residing in the same apartment are surprised that the mission president has assigned him to be the trainer (first companion and mentor) to a missionary new to the mission.
The new missionary, Elder Calhoun, tackles mission work with unbounded enthusiasm. He will try to talk to anyone even though he barely knows the Dutch language
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
. 'Barely' is an understatement, since he doesn't know how to speak Dutch, nor does he understand it when someone speaks Dutch to him. But that doesn't stop him from trying.
Fortunately for him, he soon encounters a man from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
that speaks English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. They speak briefly in the park before the man goes off with his girlfriend. Later, when he encounters the same man in a market, Calhoun gives him a Dutch Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
with his telephone number. Despite what the other three missionaries expect, the man does call and asks for Calhoun.
The man doesn't want to meet the missionaries in his own apartment because his roommates wouldn't understand. The missionaries arrange for him to meet them in their apartment. When he tries to give back the Book of Mormon because he doesn't read Dutch, they promptly give him one in English. Despite his obvious desire to leave immediately, the missionaries find out his name (Kyle Harrison) and teach him a discussion (short lesson) about Joseph Smith and Joseph's First Vision
First Vision
The First Vision refers to a vision that Joseph Smith, Jr. said he received as a youth in a wooded area in Manchester, New York, which his followers call the Sacred Grove. Smith described it as a personal theophany in which he received a forgiveness of sins...
. Afterwards, Kyle would truly like to know more, so the missionaries schedule another discussion.
Tension has been building throughout the entire movie between Elder Johnson and Elder Van Pelt. Earlier, Johnson had received an audio tape from his girlfriend. He hasn't been able to play the tape for several days because Van Pelt had lent their tape player to a ward member. Also, Van Pelt is annoyed by Johnson's repeated use of the word "flip", as a mild substitute for any of a number of profane
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
words. Johnson had told Van Pelt to hit him every time he used that word, but while waiting outside the apartment Johnson says it, and frustrated with Van Pelt for always hitting him, physically forces him to stop, showing his anger. This tension culminates outside of the missionary apartment just as Kyle is leaving from his first discussion. As he is leaving, Johnson and Van Pelt are looking in, hoping for him to leave soon. However, Johnson states: "Oh, flip! They're just standing around in there!" Forgetting Johnson's threats if he does so again, Van Pelt hits Johnson on the back, relatively hard. Johnson chases Van Pelt around, and eventually, as Kyle is on his way out of the door, Van Pelt enters and hides. Johnson quickly bursts in as well, smashing Kyle behind the door. He demands to know where Van Pelt is, and misunderstands most of what Rogers says and only hears the "Behind the door" part. He angrily starts to smash Kyle even more, until he realized what he just did. Rogers and Calhoun leave with Kyle out the door, but rush back in when they hear Van Pelt scream. They run in to see that Johnson has just hogtie
Hogtie
The hogtie is a method of tying the limbs together, rendering the subject immobile and helpless. Originally, it was applied to pigs and other young four-legged animals.- Details :...
d Van Pelt with a rope when the mission president arrives in the apartment.
President Sandburg gives Johnson and Van Pelt a mild, but appropriate and effective, reprimand for their misbehavior. (Prescriptions were respectively and .) He recommends Elder Calhoun work on his Dutch, (amusingly Calhoun had, in Dutch, stated: "With all the walking and bike riding, my rear end has become quite beautiful."), and gently reprimands Rogers for not having written letters to his mother for a while, and persuades him to send at least one letter a week home for the remainder of his mission.
Things start to get worse for Elder Johnson when the president has to talk to him and Van Pelt decides to listen to his tape from his girlfriend. At the end of the tape, Johnson's girlfriend reveals she is getting married to a returned missionary after dating him for three weeks.
The second discussion with Kyle is followed by several more, again in the missionaries' apartment. He does decide to be become a member of the Church. The baptism
Baptism (Mormonism)
In Mormonism, baptism is recognized as the first of several ordinances of the gospel.-Overview:Much of the theology of Mormon baptism was established during the early Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr...
is scheduled for the Saturday just over a week from then. Kyle chooses Rogers to baptize him, to the great surprise of Rogers.
Johnson starts to resemble Elder Rogers when he starts to not do his work and jokingly says that the zone leaders are coming to promote Van Pelt because of Van Pelts' high hopes, like those Rogers had when his girlfriend broke up with him. Afterwards, Rogers convinces him to not do the same thing he did after Calhoun and Van Pelt leave for a store.
The baptism takes place in a river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
as scheduled, on the same day that Rogers is leaving for home. There are long good-byes at the train station
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
. And in the station, with Rogers looking on from the train, Calhoun finally understands and speaks Dutch well.
External links
- Official movie web site
- LDS Film's The Best Two Years page of reviews and links
- The Best Two Years (Google video)