Storytellers: An Evening with Colorful Characters offers wit and wisdom

Movie Title: Story Tellers: An Evening with Colorful Characters

Grade: B

Rating: PG, 67 minutes

In a Nutshell: I admit it…the first time I tried to watch this movie, I fell asleep. I was home on my comfy couch with a full belly at the end of a long day.

The Millennials in the room with me turned to their cell phones within minutes. That doesn’t bode well for movie sales, right? I wanted to give it another try, especially because this won the 2017 LDS Film Festival for Best Picture!

The second time I watched this movie, I was delighted by the conversation between these three legendary men of the 19^th Century. Their meeting in the Utah territory is only fictional, but this charming depiction around a campfire could have easily gone down the way it’s depicted in the movie.

Uplifting theme:

“Challenges make life interesting – overcoming them makes life meaningful.” – Porter Rockwell (Jasen Wade).
“Start living your dreams instead of your nightmares.” – J. Golden Kimball (Cameron Asay).
Faith in God, faith in yourself, faith in others.

Things I liked:

I adore Jasen Wade. He does a great job as Porter Rockwell, known as “the Destroying Angel.” He’s wonderful in all of his movies. He just recently starred in a movie that hit Utah theaters this month called, “Love Kennedy.”
Joshua Michael French is an excellent Mark Twain. With as colorful a character as Samuel Langhorne Clemens was, it’s surprising he’s not featured in more movies!
Cameron Asay actually looks like J. Golden Kimball. They show pictures of these three real men at the end of the movie, making you appreciate the casting even more.
Beautiful landscape in the Utah mountains where the movie was filmed. The colors and textures are captured very well in the beginning and end of the film.
There is respectful talk of women. Golden exclaims, “Women are God’s finest creation.”
Most of us know a little bit about these men as they were older, so it’s fun to see them as younger men.
Their conversation flows easily, as does their wisdom.

Things I didn’t like:

It feels like a stage play.
There isn’t any action.
Non-Mormons will only recognize Mark Twain, as the other two men were LDS.
I could have used more stories!
It’s a little slow-moving.
It seemed short for a feature film.

Funny lines:

“Virtue is a patience…or so I’m told.” – Mark Twain
“I never let school interfere with my education.” – Mark Twain
“If people think you’re crazy, they’ll never push their limits with you.” – Porter Rockwell
“My apologies. I thought you were going to shoot me.” – Mark Twain

“It’s not over yet.” – Porter

“I think God has a sense of humor.” – Golden

“You think so?” – Mark Twain

“I hope so. Otherwise, I’m going to hell.” – Golden

“I never killed anyone that didn’t deserve it.” – Porter
“Thank you Porter.” – Mark Twain

“For what?” – Porter

“For not shooting me.” – Mark Twain

“Life’s not over yet.” – Porter

Interesting lines:

“Not every book you read is truth.” – Mark Twain

Tips for parents:

There is a string of profanity uttered by each of the men at various points in the movie; however, they are not real words. Ha ha
Children will most likely not last the entire sitting.
There is some discussion about polygamy.