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Brigham City

2001

Crime / Drama / Mystery

2
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 70% · 23 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 81% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.7/10 10 1688 1.7K

small town sheriff fbi murder serial killer mormon

Plot summary

Wes Clayton is a lawman and a bishop in a Mormon community called Brigham. The town is shaken when a woman from California is found murdered. Clayton and his young deputy work with an FBI agent sent to investigate. As a civil and spiritual leader in the frightened town, Clayton must uncover the town's deepest secrets, find the murderer and keep Brigham from ripping itself apart.

Director

Richard Dutcher Photo
Richard Dutcher

Top cast

Wilford Brimley Photo
Wilford Brimley as Stu
Bus Riley Photo
Bus Riley as Bob
Matthew A. Brown Photo
Matthew A. Brown as Terry
Brian Petersen Photo
Brian Petersen as FBI Agent
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
1.08 GB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
us  
29.97 fps
2 hr 0 min
Seeds 6
2 GB
1920*1080
English 2.0
NR
us  
29.97 fps
2 hr 0 min
Seeds 9

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by bkoganbing 6 / 10

Killings In A Quiet Mormon Town

For a gentile like myself, Brigham City is both a good murder mystery about a serial killer and a nice insight into a community where the Mormon culture predominates. The film is the creation of Richard Dutcher who wrote, directed, and starred in it.Dutcher wears two hats in this film and something you're not likely to see in a gentile setting. He's both the bishop and spiritual leader of the town and the sheriff. Being that must be a unique experience, in most small town the function of the local cops is mainly breaking up bar fights and writing speeding tickets. As one of the tenets of the LDS church is non-imbibing of liquor that is something he might not have to deal with. Still Dutcher and his deputy Matthew Brown do have an influx of other kinds of people in the town engaged in the construction trade. The place is booming.And so when a serial killer strikes the folks in Brigham City find it inconceivable that the perpetrator could be one of them. Eventually they have to explore the possibility.When a young girl goes missing, Dutcher deputizes a bunch of people and they do a house to house search which in another setting somebody might complain about a little thing like the Constitution. He does uncover a wrongdoer, but not in the same vein of what he was looking for.I did like the scenes very much of the everyday life in a Mormon community it gives some great insights. For instance Brown talks about saving money for various things including the mission trip his infant son will eventually make. Not something you would hear in another film.Dutcher is an imaginative film maker and he's turned out a good one here that can be appreciated outside the state of Utah.
Reviewed by lavatch 8 / 10

The Bishop and the Sheriff

Reviewed by Justin-62 7 / 10

Thoughts on Brigham City from a non-Mormon (no spoilers)

First and foremost, Brigham City is a murder mystery. But it's also a story about how a murder can make victims of everyone who lives in a small town that is supposed to be safe. While Brigham City is set in a predominantly Mormon town in Utah, but it could just have easily been any small town in America and the people could have been of any faith (or none at all). The people of the town feel safe and secure. No one locks they're doors. Everyone knows everyone else. Then their sense of security is shattered by a spree of vicious murders. Suddenly everyone is on his guard and quick to distrust those they have trusted for years.The plot of Brigham City really has the feel of a traditional Hollywood thriller, the addition of Mormon culture give the film a higher level of depth. While the film is about Mormons and provides some brief glimpses into their beliefs and customs, it does not attempt to convert audience members to the LDS church.In his second film, Richard Dutcher does an admirable job of bringing this story to the big screen. The film feels more professional and polished than his previous entry (God's Army), but at the same time doesn't feel like the typical Hollywood fare.What works in this movie is Dutcher's attention to detail and the depth of the characters. I was pleased to see how the violence in the movie was implied rather than shown directly. I was also impressed by the casting of Wilford Brimley. There may have been a commercial reason for him being attached to the film, but his presence gave the film a feeling of familiarity.Dutcher also makes great use of camera angles and music to cast each person as a suspect. This is also the film's low point, as it is used so much it begins to bog down the story. Non-Mormons may feel that certain points of the movie are a bit too preachy.All in all, Brigham City is a decent movie. I don't recommend it for younger children, as some of the implied violence may be disturbing, but most people over 13 will probably be drawn into the story the same way you would a traditional Hollywood thriller.You might ask why I (a non-Mormon) interested in seeing Brigham City. Since I manage the movie theater where the film is playing I wanted to be able to give an informed opinion about the movie. As a movie fan, I was interested to see how Brigham City stood up to other Hollywood and independent films. As a person, I was interested for the glimpse of Mormon culture the film provided.
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