I had watched interviews with the boys this even happened to, so much of the plot was familiar going in.There are preaching moments, they are mormon missionaries after all, but none of it is ever jammed into the story. It all flows very naturally. Overall a solid film. The camera works was intreasting, 3 outta the 4 main actors did fantasic. The music felt a little repeatitive, but that was my biggest issue with this movie.All of the preaching furthered the story, so it gets a pass. The 8/10 rating is well deserved as I watched this movie twice in a row and enjoyed it both times.

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.

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.

I just returned from this movie. I have seen a lot of the LDS-themed movies, and most were OK, but just OK. This? Impressive.It was shot simply. The scenes were simple. Its strength was in that simplicity. That gave the actors rooms to act, to show the gamut of emotions that these two young men struggled with, to see them strengthened by their faith, yet still struggling, and then, slowly, to let us see a bit into the minds of the captors, to see the missionaries with an opportunity to rely on the arm of flesh to try to save themselves, then to be subtly brought around to relying on the arm of God.Lots to think about.