2 of 3

But I find that if you tell people it's about grace and spiritual struggle, people generally run in the opposite direction, because that's not what we've been trained that movies are supposed to do. So I'd probably focus on the drive-by shooting and let them discover the spiritual themes for themselves.

It's a sequel to God's Army, right?

Dutcher: Well, I would only say that in the Mormon community, because I wanted them to know it's a follow-up to a film they had liked. But I didn't want to eliminate anybody who hadn't seen the first God's Army movie, or who wasn't Mormon. So, it's been kind of confusing because we've been trying to push it both ways, as a sequel to God's Army and by saying it's just States of Grace.

Actually, it kind of backfired on us, because a strange thing has happened in the Mormon community over the past five years. When God's Army came out [in 2000], it created a little "Mormon cinema movement." Before God's Army, there hadn't been many films by and about Mormons; after that, there was a flood of really crappy movies. But I didn't realize that, because I'd away from the Mormon community for a few years while making other movies. When we came back, we didn't realize that the reputation for Mormon film had sunk to such a level that by calling a film God's Army 2, it was almost a bad thing because people thought, Oh no, another Mormon movie, because they'd been burned so many times.

When you say "Mormon movies," do you just mean movies by, about, and for Mormons? Or are they for a wider audience?

Dutcher: Well most of the Mormon filmmakers are delusional; they think their films would appeal to a larger audience. Lifetime Mormons who've never been outside of Utah have no idea what would make a film cross over to another community. They have such a limited view of the religious world, they just don't have a clue how to make a film that might appeal to other people.

My idea of Mormon cinema would be films that take a deep, probing look into Mormonism—its history, doctrine, contemporary life, to explore things that were pretty much untapped. But that's certainly not what Mormon cinema became. It became something so much more superficial and meaningless.

Did you do your two-year stint as a Mormon missionary?

Dutcher: I did. I went to Southern Mexico in 1984. It was a wonderful adventure. And for that reason, I thought, No filmmaker had ever really seriously approached that experience and said, "This is what it's like." Before that, I'd been writing a lot of scripts, basically whatever I thought the market would want—romances, comedies, horror films, vampire movies, it didn't matter. It wasn't until I got the idea for God's Army that I wrote something deeply personal and based on my own experience.

Missionaries Farrell and Lozano tussle with gang members in 'States of Grace'

Is States of Grace also autobiographical?

Dutcher: Very much so. The drive-by shooting scene came directly from my own experience in Mexico, where we walked out of a meeting with a family and right into a drive-by shooting. And because there weren't many people around, I was the one trying to save this guy's life. In real life, it turned out differently than in the movie: The guy died right there in front of me. So that always stuck in my mind, and States of Grace was an opportunity to do something with that.

God's Army did well in theaters, but States of Grace didn't. Why?

Dutcher: To me, it was by far a better film than God's Army, but we couldn't give tickets away. I think it's because people thought it was going to be just another crappy Mormon movie.

Sounds like you're up against quite a perception problem?

Dutcher: Yes, that's the battle I've been fighting in the Mormon community. Word's gotten out that my films are a little edgier than the others, and have a little more depth and are actually about something. And I think the Mormon community just doesn't have reverence or respect for art. It certainly doesn't understand film as an art form. So there's a big educational curve that has to take place before the Mormon community will start taking film seriously.

next page... |  2 of 3