Product Details

• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Spartan Home Enterta
• VHS Release Date: April 30, 2002
• Run Time: 115 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000639KL
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #358,432 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Richard Dutcher’s Brigham City is a rare find in the recent onslaught of murky religion-based thrillers and Satanic conspiracies--a modern crime thriller with a powerful and passionate spiritual message. In some ways it plays like a contemporary Western, with Dutcher as the upright county sheriff and local church bishop of a rural Utah town terrorized by a serial killer. Like the marshal of a peaceful frontier community, he first tries to shield his town from the horror, then pulls the good churchgoing citizens into a veritable posse. His cinematic skills may be a bit clumsy and his modern take on frontier justice naïve, but his heart is in the right place. He creates a portrait of family values, community ties, and neighborly caring with an honest, unaffected forthrightness. Ultimately, fear and suspicion is the real snake in Eden. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mormon Noir, May 4, 2002

By 

R. W. Rasband (Heber City, UT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: BRIGHAM CITY (DVD)

"Brigham City" is a startling and original movie, and it marks writer/director/star Richard Dutcher as a talent to watch. It's a film-noirish murder mystery as imagined from the Mormon worldview. Dutcher plays the sheriff of a small Utah town who is also the local LDS bishop. The sheltered little place is confronted by the harsh realities of the outside world when a serial killer comes to town. The film is ultimately about what happens to faith in the face of the starkest human tragedy. It's been compared to "Fargo": comparisons to Peter Weir's "Witness" and the stories of Flannery O' Connor would also be appropriate. Some mechanics of the story are a little shaky, but the power of the performances, atmospheric authenticity, characterizations and themes more than make up for it. 2001 was a good year for film noir, with "Memento", "The Man Who Wasn't There", "In The Bedroom", and this movie. If you are a fan of independent film who looks for something more than the usual Hollywood product, you really should check out "Brigham City."

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You don't have to be a Mormon..., May 4, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: BRIGHAM CITY (DVD)

I'm not Mormon, or even religious, but I found this a very thought-provoking and enjoyable movie. Instead of pounding the viewer on the head with a Bible (anybody see "The Omega Code"?), director Dutcher focuses on the ubiquity of the Mormon faith in the town of Brigham City.

That faith has bound the main character's community together, making it a place where the outside world cannot enter--the protagonist, Wes, won't listen to National Public Radio because he feels the news has no bearing on his life. And he likes it that way, too. The film's conflict comes from the tension between the peace of the community and the fear of the world outside. Should Brigham City keep everyone calm by pretending that the violence never happened, or will doing that amount to clearing the way for further sad events? Wes, as the sheriff, tries desperately to maintain a balance of acting for his community and protecting it from tragedy.

The story is paced just right, with enough suspense to keep you watching. The characters are well-developed with no "Mainstreet USA" yokels or stereotypical Mormons--Wil Brimley as former sheriff Stu battles his conscience over cigarettes, and a local bar does a thriving business. The cinematography is excellent, with a lot of breathtaking shots of the desert scenery.

Even so, my main recommendation for this film is that (in spite of one or two mildly gory scenes that might not be good for those under 10) it's a "family" film with none of the forced quality that so many "family" films have. It examines things you want to discuss with young people, like faith and trust, without any cheesiness of either the religious or the Hollywood variety. Brigham City is a believable story with a believable resolution that people of any religious persuasion can understand and appreciate.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brigham City is not Fargo--Thank goodness., December 27, 2001

By 

Marleen Van Horne (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Richard Dutcher wrote, directed and starred in Brigham City. It is as if he looked at Fargo, made a list of all that movies defects, and set about making a movie correcting them.

Brigham City is a murder mystery, in which a serial killer suddenly starts eliminating young women in a small Utah town. The sheriff who must find the killer, is also a Morman bishop. The job makes demands, that as a man of faith the sheriff would prefer not to confront.

The murders are grisley, but the details are left to the imagination. The police work portrayed in the story is accurate. The acting is so fine, the people of Brigham City are real enough to be your neighbors. The story is interesting and the suspense builds steadily to the aprehension of the murderer. The murderer is an arrogantly cool psychotic. And most significantly of all, the entire story actually takes place in Brigham City.

This is a story of a good man doing a difficult job. Go see this movie, you will like it.