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Mobsters and Mormons

Where: Area theaters.

When: Opens today.

Rating: PG for mild thematic elements, some language and violence.

Running time: 98 minutes.

Bottom line: Forgive it its flaws, and you may enjoy this good-natured LDS-themed farce.

The comedy "Mobsters and Mormons" is as broad and obvious as its title. That's not a condemnation - in fact, the movie is often funny and has a good heart - just a warning that if you are expecting subtlety, look elsewhere.

The sitcom-simple premise of writer-director John E. Moyer's movie is this: New Jersey mafioso Carmine "Beans" Pasquale (Mark DeCarlo) rats out his boss (Michael Kagan) and is put, with his wife, Gina (Jeannette Puhich), and teen son, Vincent (Clayton Taylor), in the witness protection program. The family's new home? A conservative Utah neighborhood. (The movie was filmed in Provo.) Let the culture-clash wackiness commence!

Moyer gets a lot of mileage out of the Pasquale family's reactions to Utah culture - such as Carmine's inability to order a drinkable cup of coffee, or his neighbors' disdain when he mows the lawn on a Sunday. One might argue the jokes play on derisive stereotypes (of Utah Mormons and Italian-Americans), but they're presented with enough good-natured cheer that it's hard to take offense. Thankfully, the jokes aren't as cultural-specific as the ones in "The Singles Ward" (which Moyer co-wrote), so you don't feel like you need subtitles if you didn't get a reference.

DeCarlo has a knack for giving the hackneyed jokes some life. DeCarlo - who you may recognize as the host of the Travel Channel's "Taste of America," as the voice of Jimmy Neutron's dad, or from his mid-'90s game show "Studs" - is a sharp comedian, and there's an improvisational freshness to his delivery.

Many in the cast are Utah actors, familiar faces in local theater and Mormon Cinema. The standout is Scott Christopher, who plays Michael, the one neighbor who offers the Pasquales (or Cheesemans, as the FBI has renamed them) a friendly welcome. Christopher has to bear the message of Moyer's script - that some upright Mormons aren't as Christlike as they think they are - and he does it with understated grace. Christopher, both here and playing an LDS convert in "The Best Two Years," may be the best serious actor to come from the Mormon Cinema ranks.

"Mobsters and Mormons" can be trite in its message and hamfisted in its execution. But between DeCarlo's wisecracks and Christopher's earnestness, its heart and funny bone are in the right place.

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