Witnesses (2021)

 'Witnesses' tells the story of the famed 'three witnesses of the Book of Mormon', Oliver Cowdrey, Martin Harris, and David Whitmer, who each testified to having viewed the golden plates from which Joseph Smith was said to have translated the text of the Book of Mormon. More specifically these three alleged that they were shown the plates by an angle, as opposed to the eight additional men and one woman who reported to have seen them sans supernatural accompaniment (all these figures in addition to Joseph of course).

Containing a lite framing story of an elderly David Whitmer being interviewed by a reporter, the movie jumps around in time between 1827 and 1881 and might be a little hard to follow without a general grounding in the history of the Joseph Smith's restorationist movement. There is an awful lot of story and information conveyed here, each of the three central characters could have easily supported a biographical movie of their own. 

This is an ambitious project at 110 minutes and I'm afraid that the film makers weren't up to the task. Budget constraints, often weak and silly dialogue, and subpar acting made this film difficult to sit through, epically during the first half which goes over some well torn territory and is reminiscent of some old Church educational films, but not as charming (I kept waiting for Joseph to say "We did it Don Carlos!"). 

Perhaps casting is the films biggest problem, Paul Wuthrich who plays Joseph Smith looks like a teen idol and lacks the gravitas to make the part transcend cliché.  Lincoln Hopes' Martin Harris borders on goofy, and while Caleb J. Spivak's Oliver Cowdrey is fine if not exceptional, I couldn't quite get over Michael Zuccola's seeming channeling of Paul Giamatti as David Whitmer, a weird choice. 

I did like Joseph Carlson's few scenes as Sidney Rigdon, I think it really captured the mans early enthusiasm for the movement and his fire and brimstone preacherlyness, a side of the faith not much seen as it developed into a more staid aesthetic especially after the 19th Century. Scott Christopher, a nearly 30 year veteran of this kind of filmmaking anchors the only scene in this film that I thought came close to invoking the kind of awe of the project was presumably going for. 

The film deals at some length with seer stones and finical crises in Kirtland, as well as a brief mention of Joseph's relationship with Fanny Alger. As a result there has been some push back about the film being not sufficiently faith promoting. 

A real disappointment, and unusually bad as films geared toward a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint centric audience goes, a genera I usually have something of a soft spot for. *1/2