bkoganbing A couple of passing Mormon Elders steered me to this film and I have to say it was not a bad choice. Filmed in both Salt Lake City and Kiev, The Saratov Approach is about two Mormon Elders on their mission in the Russian city of Saratov who are kidnapped by a pair of would be criminals and the LDS church itself given a ransom notice.As a tenet of the faith these young men and occasionally women do go on these two year missions to spread the faith. In that time if one is converted by them it's gravy. The meat and potatoes is to spread good will for the Church of Latter Day Saints. So Elders Propst and Tuttle are doing just that in the Russian they've learned in preparation for this assignment.Corbin Allred and MacLain Nelson do a good job in roles they are clearly too old for. Missionaries are usually 18 to 25 and the real Propst and Tuttle are identified as 23 and 20 in an article I read on the case. All the Mormon Elders I've ever encountered were about that age and the most recent two who recommended this film looked barely out of high school. In fact had they gotten two who looked like them to play Propst and Tuttle the film would have been better because the vulnerability would have increased exponentially.Alex Veadov and champion skater Nikita Bogolyubov play the kidnappers. Veadov is a Russian navy veteran and Bogolyubov just a follower in over his head. On certain levels the Elders do bond with the kidnappers, but it's hardly a Patty Hearst situation.The Saratov Approach is a nice film that would have been better with different casting of the Elders. It's also a commercial for the LDS church, but that's to be expected.And this review is dedicated to those passing Mormon Elders Reed and Hamilton both from rural parts of Utah who recommended The Saratov Approach as good material to review.

Aubrey Robertson This movie is no more that a crafty sermon.It hooks you in by appealing to your emotions and a flashback sequence, but doesn't deliver anything other than segues into Sunday school lessons and prayer time. I don't know the original story, so I cannot compare it to that. The worst part is that this movie seemed like it could have been so much better.The score is distracting, incessant, and out-of-place; The writing is nothing original (some parts of it are ~2000 years old!); and you have ~30 year old actors playing 19 and 20 year old characters, which is also very distracting.I was convinced to watch this movie by the reviews on IMDb.com, and you should really avoid making the same mistake I did.

argrig A noticeably low-budget B-movie that is challenging your suspension of disbelief.It was probably filmed in Ukraine (since it's cheaper, I guess) and all the billboards and labels in "Saratov" are actually not in Russian, which is extremely annoying. (Imagine a movie showing New York, where everything is written in German. The "Russian" guy in one of the scenes can't even pronounce the word "christian" properly). When the characters enter a typical panel-block house in "Saratov", we end up seeing your typical Brooklyn lobby. This series of flukes never ends.The plot itself is predictable and spread out. The first 20 minutes of the film could easily be conveyed in 2 minutes. The rest of the movie maintains this ratio.

mark blanchard Despite what the other 10 star reviews would have you believe, this is very much an LDS movie that will likely appeal only to LDS audiences. Since it's a true story that made TV news in its day, I suppose it is no spoiler to reveal that not much happens to the two kidnapped missionaries during their 5 days of captivity before they are voluntarily released. For that reason the screenplay fills the action void with: a dream sequence, many flashbacks, a heady dose of preaching to the camera, and some none-too-subtle figura christi allusions. But I'll grant you that it is a fairly well made film for its type. It's true that the actors playing the missionaries are about ten years too old for their roles and the ones playing Senators and FBI agents are about 10 years too young, but overall the film is comfortably shot and scored. Yes, the hand-held camera is herky-jerky even when it doesn't need to be, but who really cares about these quibbles? Go see it if you skipped Sacrament Meeting last Sunday or if you just want to reinforce your belief that deep down all gentiles really respect we Mormons even when their use of coffee, tea, and beer makes them do bad things -- like not root for the Utah Jazz.