"The Other Side of Heaven" is a movie that I liked as a younger person with much less appreciation of what appeals to my particular film tastes. But even then, I only would have given this a 6 or a 7 (tops).The performances by Anne Hathaway and Christopher Gorham are disturbingly incompetent. Kevin Kiner's bizarrely typical music is just not interesting enough to bind the movie together. And, as far as themes go, the plot line of this movie is terrifyingly generic (guy comes to a "backwards" civilization to bring "enlightenment" to the "ignorant savages").Honestly, I don't believe in missionary work. After all, didn't some of the people who conquered the Americas come disguised as missionaries? It just doesn't fit into my belief system that you should try to convert someone to yours, so it makes it very difficult for me to relate to this film's main character (a real-life person).Plus, the movie is badly mangled (oops... I mean, edited) together and should not be rated above a 4 in the IMDb weighted average. When it is higher, it makes one wonder about the validity of the entire system.

I am not a Mormon but thought this movie was a fine example of a good, clean, wholesome, interesting, and very enjoyable film. Time and time again we have watched--or started to watch--a highly proclaimed movie, only to be turned off by the language, violence, and sexual inferences. The Other Side of Heaven was a refreshing change and is proof that Hollywood can do it when they want to. Would love to see many, many more films of this quality. I saw this movie two days ago...and this weekend we are inviting relatives over to see it. Incidentally, we have friends who are (non-Mormon) missionaries in a location very much like Tonga, and they have experienced many, many of the same things portrayed in the film...even the rats!

One of those things most people don't realize about this, is this movie is a true story.This young man left his home for more than 2 years to do what he believed to be right and gave up everything. It shows what some people are willing to sacrifice to do what they believe is what God wants them to do, or more simply the right thing to do.It shows how hard the life of a missionary can be, and how they care about the people, and what rewards can come from being a missionary. It also shows what it's like to leave everything your used to behind, and go someplace completely strange, and then after being there for a while how hard it can be to readjust to life at home.Please don't disregard this movie simply because it's about a Mormon missionary Mission. You may miss something good.

I watched this movie with my 17 year old daughter last night and we both loved it. It was full of beautiful messages that we as a human race have so sadly forgotten If once in a while we all took a moment and thought of life like the young man in this movie, this would be a wondrous world. It breaks my heart that a movie with so much to offer was basically ignored by the public and press.