MORMON MISSIONARIES SCOPE OUT THE BEACH.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

Writer-director Richard Dutcher continues his low-budget examination of Mormon missionaries in ``States of Grace.'' Like the filmmaker's previous ``God's Army,'' this movie humanizes some of those well-groomed young men who knock on our doors, politely offering to share the Latter-day Saints' good news.

Would that Dutcher's dramatist's skills matched his empathetic agenda. While it's nice to see these just-hatched elders depicted as diverse individuals who happen to be into saving souls and remaining celibate for a while, it'd be nicer if their personal issues weren't so predictably played out. Make that slowly and deliberately played out; ``Grace'' is the type of film that moves to such workmanlike rhythms, the audience can see every character's crisis of faith coming a mile (or an hour) away.

And while he for the most part gets nice, naturalistic performances out of his actors, Dutcher encourages them to wildly over-emote when those stress points hit. Nonreligious viewers -- who may not be the target audience, but who could certainly learn some worthwhile things from this film -- will find some of this bathos wildly disproportionate to the issue at hand, especially if sex is involved.

Other parts of the film, though just as emotionally hyped, relay the tried-but-true wisdom that belief can redeem lost lives. Dutcher does this with a minimum of proselytizing (pretty cool for a story about guys who are in the conversion business) and he's refreshingly free of sectarian prejudice. Pentecostal, Baptist, just probably gonna stop whoring around ... as long as God touches someone's life in a positive way, this movie's all for it.

Elders Lozano (``General Hospital's'' Ignacio Serricchio) and Farrell (Lucas Fleischer) share a small, Ocean Park boardwalk apartment. Lozano's a tattooed barrio kid who made a near-deathbed conversion, Farrell's a totally square white boy from, presumably, somewhere in Utah or an abutting state.

They joke good-naturedly about the disinterested folks they try to preach to and gaze longingly at the bikini-clad women who smile their way. Lozano is counting down the handful of days before his mission's completed and he can ``legally'' enjoy a Christmas kiss, or more (yes, the holiday is significantly looming).

But first, three lost souls demand the elders' attention. Carl (Lamont Stephens), a belligerent gang-banger whose life Lozano saves, would truly like to join the church. Alcoholic street preacher Louis (Jo'Sei Ikeda) just needs a safe place to sleep and dry out, and the boys charitably, redemptively take him in. They ask Holly (Rachel Emmers), the friendly neighbor they've been trying to avoid, to check on Louis while they're out. They've seen her in a nurse's uniform, not knowing that she's really an actress. A special kind of actress.

Anyway, good and terrible things happen to this warming circle of friends. One or two unexpected things, too; who knew about Mormon Christmas luaus? But there ain't a whole lot of surprises here.

While Dutcher wants to teach numerous blunt moral lessons, he also has a complex -- or maybe it's just confused -- view of dogmatic doctrines that don't necessarily take human nature into account (yes, I'm talking about those sexual transgressions again). While I remain unsure of what he's trying to get at with all of that, one thing did become clear by ``States of Grace's'' heavy-handedly symbolic ending: Dutcher believes that forgiveness is one of the highest manifestations of divine love.

That kind of message goes a long way towoard pardoning many a cinematic sin.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

[e-mail]

STATES OF GRACE - Two and one half stars

(PG-13: violence, language, substance abuse)

Starring: Ignacio Serricchio, Lucas Fleischer, Lamont Stephens, Rachel Emmers, Jo'Sei Ikeda.

Director: Richard Dutcher.

Running time: 2 hr. 8 min.

Playing: Laemmle Sunset 5, West Hollywood.

In a nutshell: Melodrama about young Mormon missionaries at the beach is generally clunky and often overwrought, yet contains some trenchant observations of personal religious struggles.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Richard Dutcher's ``States of Grace'' tracks a pair of young Latter-day Saints men as they proselytize to a largely uninterested audience.