OUTLAW PROPHET: WARREN JEFFS (2014)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Tony Goldwyn is Warren Jeffs who, at the start of the film, has a major crying fit when he realizes he will not succeed his father as the prophet. Warren's father has passed on (played by Martin Landau, always a pro in any role) and Warren decides to go against his father's wishes and proclaims himself the leader, much to the shock of everyone! Warren excommunicates people left and right, starts marrying a bunch of his dad's widows (most of them underage), kills all the neighborhood dogs whom he considers emissaries of the Devil, does away with TV's and anything that could challenge the people of this isolated existence, and insists that God speaks to him everyday. The truth is that Warren merely wants to have lots of sex with all his wives, usually thrusting himself in one wife while the others look on, and he knows he is not doing God's will - he just wants everyone to believe he is. After awhile, Warren starts to believe his own lies.
Most of "Outlaw Prophet" is episodic featuring a tightly controlled narrative that, occasionally, features a few cliches that tinker with the bleakness of its setting and the nastiness of its protagonist. David Keith (from "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "Lords of Discipline") is the obsessed cop who wants to bust Warren despite not being welcomed in town and having his motel room ransacked. I admire David Keith but he barely gets to do much here except look concerned. Same with the wonderful Molly Parker as Warren's No.1 wife whose part is far too undernourished.
Still, as a behind-the-scenes look at how a man corrupted his own religion to fulfill his own vices, "Outlaw Prophet" is profoundly tough to watch. Goldwyn shows how far a man can go to use God as justification for everything.
