The Other Side Of Heaven (2002)

29% of critics liked it
(42 reviews)
72% of users liked it
(9,714 ratings)

A young man from Idaho finds himself in a beautiful but dangerous land in the South Pacific as he follows his faith and tries to spread it to others in this adventure-drama, based on a true story. In 1953, John Groberg (Christopher Gorham) is a 19-year-old student at Brigham Young University, whose… More A young man from Idaho finds himself in a beautiful but dangerous land in the South Pacific as he follows his faith and tries to spread it to others in this adventure-drama, based on a true story. In 1953, John Groberg (Christopher Gorham) is a 19-year-old student at Brigham Young University, whose greatest adventure in life had been to leave home to go to school in Utah. That all changes when Groberg accepts a missionary assignment in the Tonga Islands near Fiji; Groberg is instructed to "build a kingdom" and educate the natives about the Mormon faith, even though he knows little of their customs and nothing of their language. Leaving behind his sweetheart, Jean Sabin (Anne Hathaway), Groberg arrives in Tonga and is quickly immersed in the native culture, and strives to teach the Tongans about the teachings of the Latter-Day Saints while trying to respect their cultural traditions and face the joys and struggles of primitive life in the South Pacific alongside them. Groberg makes a valuable ally in Feki (Joe Folau), a Tongan who becomes an avid follower of the Mormon faith, but he also finds his loyalty to Jean (with whom he's been maintaining a long-distance relationship through cards and letters) tested when a native girl makes her attraction to him quite clear. Based on the real John Groberg's memoir In the Eye of the Storm, The Other Side of Heaven was produced by Jerry Molen, Academy Award winning producer of Schindler's List and Jurassic Park; it also marked the directorial debut of screenwriter Mitch Davis. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 53 min.
Directed By: Mitch Davis
Written By: Mitch Davis
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure

In Theaters: Dec 14, 2001 Limited
On DVD: Apr 1, 2003
Studio: Excel Entertainmen

Critic Reviews

Robert K. Elder, Chicago Tribune
Captures a breathtaking exotic landscape cluttered only by the smugness of its characters.
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
Your stomach for Heaven depends largely on your appetite for canned corn.
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
Handsome and sincere but slightly awkward in its combination of entertainment and evangelical boosterism.
Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel
The film's implicit premise is that the faith of the Tonga people is in every way inferior to that of John.
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
Obstacles are too easily overcome and there isn't much in the way of character development in the script.
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
OK movie of young Mormon missionary.
Carol Cling, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Painfully earnest and painfully dull.
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
To call The Other Side of Heaven "appalling" would be to underestimate just how dangerous entertainments like it can be.
Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Its appeal will probably limited to LDS Church members and undemanding armchair tourists.
Jeffrey Bruner, Des Moines Register
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this is a Mormon family movie, and a sappy, preachy one at that.
James Sanford, Kalamazoo Gazette
In its combination of religion, love story and exotic locales, "Heaven" is a bit reminiscent of James Michener's "Hawaii," although this is a somewhat simpler, more personal tale.
Steve Rhodes, Internet Reviews
The movie's messages are quite admirable, but the story is just too clichéd and too often strains credulity.

Read all 12 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Leigh R

What a great "story". It is quite remarkable how much down played the letters that John wrote home were. He was going through these huge dramas and yet it was so basic in the letters. Very admirable...
Curtis L

Neat. I like Tonga.
Dannielle A

I have a few complaints about the choices made on the storyboard, but it's a REALLY good movie.
Andrew F

I thought it was okay. It bored me.
Leo L

A personal favorite.