The Singles Ward remains the ultimate fun Mormon in-joke movie

I wrote this review/analysis more than nine years ago but decided to rescue it from Google Wayback to place on the blog. -- Doug Gibson

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I recently watched, for maybe the 10th time, the 2002 Halestorm film “The Singles Ward.” I love this film. It’s by far the best insider Mormon in-joke movie. It’s actually funny; most Mormon comedies aren’t.

If you are an active Latter-day Saint who has spent time in a singles ward, you’ll likely laugh a lot. If you are not LDS, it will likely bore you.

I’ll just spend a moment with the plot. It involves a divorced, semi-active LDS single Jonathan Jordan (Will Swenson), who works as a stand up comedian. In “plot device 45653” he meets a devout, gorgeous LDS coed Cammie Giles (Connie Young), who likes to speak her mind. They argue a lot, and eventually hit it off. They are surrounded by a horde of stereotypical LDS young adults who are funny because, like a grifter, there’s a little bit of truth to their stereotypes. There’s the computer geek, the rustic mechanic, the pretentious LDS coed who eventually marries the rustic mechanic, the delusional nerd, who of course ends up with a sexy wife, the naive, hickish missionary-to-be … and you get the picture.

“The Singles Ward,” because it’s a Halestorm film, invariably has a few “faith-promoting” scenes, but they are kept to a minimum, so the film is rarely boring. In one of the funniest scenes in the genre, Jonathan, in the Salt Lake City apartment of a cute bartender (Michelle Ainge) and full of bad intentions, opens her curtains to see a full view of the LDS Salt Lake City temple (with the proper music and all).

“The Singles Ward” also has a pretty good cast. Swenson is now a star on Broadway. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in the revival of “Hair,” where he shows off a lot more skin than he does in “Singles Ward.” Young has had an unspectacular but consistent career over two decades. She has gained cult status with her performance as a teen in the “worst film” perennial “Troll 2” and appeared in the critically acclaimed documentary on the film, “Best Worst Movie.” Her most recent film was “Christmas Angel.” And LDS perennial film star Kirby Heyborne has had occasional success out of the genre he’s “famous” for.

Perhaps the most unique characteristic of “Singles Ward” is counting all the celebrities, major and minor, who made cameo appearances. I can’t think of a film that has this many.
They are (and I could have missed one or two) Wally Joyner, Richard Dutcher, Danny Ainge, Shawn Bradley, Jimmy Chunga, LaVell Edwards, Ron McBride (As Brother Giles … Cammie’s dad!!), Steve Young, Johnny Biscuit, Thurl Bailey, Julie Stoffer, Gordon Jump, Jason Buck, Ty Mattingly, Jared Hess and Dell Schanze.

And where else can you find a film where a bit player (Charisse Miller) is called “Sweet Spirit” in the credits.

There was a sequel to “The Singles Ward,” called, appropriately “The Singles 2nd Ward.” It involves Heyborne’s now-returned missionary, Dallen Martin, back at BYU as a religion professor and finding love with a gorgeous, sassy LDS student, Christine (Erin Chambers) … whatever. Did I mention these films are also LDS male fantasies?

It’s almost as much fun as the first “Singles Ward,” and Swenson, Young and the others make cameo appearances. Chambers, according to imdb.com, has an impressively long acting resume that includes stints on “Cold Case,” “Medium” and “Without a Trace.”

-- Doug Gibson

-- Originally published at StandardBlogs