After the film, producer Peter Brown admitted that “we kind of liberally ripped stuff off [Spinal Tap].” “Kind of liberally” is right – an understatement if anything. And it’s not just that Sons of Provo is a mockumentary, there have been plenty of those since Spinal Tap.

Sons of Provo takes their whole story concept. Like the original rock trio, Everclean is a trio of young, enthusiastic, airheaded and egocentric singers who take themselves extremely seriously despite their extreme silliness.

The trio, in this case, is a Mormon boy band who sing songs like “Nourish And Strengthen Our Bodies And Do Us The Good That We Need”. Will (Will Swenson) is the controlling leader of the group, Danny (Danny Tarasevich) mixes his Mormon beliefs with eastern religion, and Kirby (Kirby Heyborne) is a professional scrapbook artist.
.
The three constantly get themselves into Spinal Tap-esque situations. In one scene, for example, the three struggle to sing “Love Me But Don’t Show Me” at a wedding reception while boy scouts shoot hoops in the back of the cultural hall. Other, more specific jokes also remind you of the various Guest films. Appropriately, one of the characters in the film is named Professor N. Tufnel, Jr.

Much like The Work and the Story, Sons of Provo often feels like it’s trying too hard – like it needs to overdo the humor because of a fear of people failing to catch on. As a result, Sons of Provo is significantly less funny than the Guest films because it’s less subtle.

On the other hand, Sons of Provo is a heck of a lot funnier than The Work and the Story. In fact, I think I laughed harder in Sons of Provo than in any other LDS comedy to date. Of course, that’s not saying a whole lot. But it’s something.

The jokes do begin to wear thin though. The primary point of comedy – that these guys are a silly Mormon boy band who take themselves too seriously – has been sucked of all its worth and feels lifeless by the films end.

The movie does say something though. Like all the other LDS films, Sons of Provo certainly panders to Mormon culture, but I think Sons of Provo is actually the strongest when it comes to providing for a critique. Everclean fire their manager, Greyson (Peter Brown) because he lets slip the word “butt” – and Everclean doesn’t tolerate that kind of language. Like the name of their band, the characters are obsessed with being “clean”, but are less concerned with actually being moral. Will is domineering towards others, refuses to listen to Kirby’s ideas, and is patently self-centered. But it’s OK because he’s “clean”. I thought the satire came through pretty clearly.

It’s seems like plain Christianity often gets lost in the midst of all the “standards” in our culture and I’m glad to see something that appears to be addressing that fact. But, I’m even more glad there are actually some laughs.

Year: