The Best Two Years Reviews

The film is excellent and very informative to non-Mormons. I worked with several in the past and always wondered about this two-year voluntary mission. Its great!

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

An earnest and impressively polished attempt at providing an inside look at the experiences of full-time Mormon missionaries.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Amiably amusing.

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Anderson's effort should be easily accessible to non-Mormons because it's genuinely funny and sanctimony-free and features uniformly fine performances.

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The value of The Best Two Years is its wholesome, sometimes humorous view, of missionary life.

| Original Score: 3/4

Sets an example for future religious films. It's able to get its point and purpose across in a way that's both entertaining and doesn't alienate the broader audience.

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If you see one Mormon movie in your life (and really, to expose yourself to a different point of view, you ought to see one), this is the one to see.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5

There is enough humanistic truth here, though, to fascinate and entertain non-believers.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Mormons will undoubtedly find many in-jokes the rest of us will miss, but for those not in the church, it's an interesting look at an unfamiliar lifestyle

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A warm, surprisingly frank, funny film.

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...the story is a solid one and well worth your time to see.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

The bar for LDS-themed films has clearly been raised. This is the film that deserves and rewards your investment

Full Review | Original Score: B+

This is truly a well crafted and compelling exploration of lives changed by religion. Among the best of it's kind.

Full Review | Original Score: B+

Not only does this surprisingly warm and funny -- and well-acted -- comedy-drama stand head and shoulders above the most recent crop of LDS features, it's a film that may appeal to moviegoers outside its obvious target audience.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

The movie proves that Mormon Cinema, even on a small budget, can play in the big leagues.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

It isn't about how to convert someone. It's about converting yourself, about figuring out what you're doing with your life and going with it. ... Thoughtful and entertaining.

Full Review | Original Score: B

To its credit, The Best Two Years shows a refreshing willingness to acknowledge the foibles and possible problems with some Mormon missionary practices.

| Original Score: 2/4

[Anderson] handles the frat-house humor more convincingly than he does the conversion scenes, which are so serious and emotional that they seem to come from a different movie.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4

The experiences of these young men probably would resonate with anyone who has undergone similar trials, but I saw few themes that would resonate with a larger audience.

| Original Score: C

Earnest but bland depiction of Mormon missionaries as normal guys, even if they do live within the drug-, alcohol- and sex-free context of an old TV series.

| Original Score: 2/4