Missed metaphor fails ‘September’

Hollywood has been less than eager to address the threat of radical Islam on film. The new drama “September Dawn” finally takes a stab at the subject of religious extremism but is generating heat for its depiction of another faith.

The film details the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre, in which 120 settlers were slaughtered by a combination of righteous Mormons, local Indians or both. The historical record is smudged, but director Christopher Cain (“Young Guns”) ignores any ambiguity. His film portrays the Mormons, stoked by their firebrand leader, Brigham Young (Terence Stamp), as judge, jury and executioners.

The film expands on the real tragedy by adding a fictional Romeo-and-Juliet affair between the handsome son of a Mormon bishop (Trent Ford) and the prettiest member of the doomed caravan (Tamara Hope). The actors bring genuine emotion to their canoodling, which makes the drippy dialogue and love-at-first-sight cliches nearly palatable.

The couple’s best scene together occurs as they first clash over their religious differences, but they remain so goo-goo-eyed over each other that the scene ultimately carries no weight.

Jon Voight’s turn as the bishop lends the otherwise shallow film some needed gravitas.

Using the massacre as a lens through which to view the current battle against religious extremism is the film’s saving grace, a master stroke amidst pedestrian filmmaking. The absolutism of Young and his disciples isn’t so different from that of Osama bin Laden and company. If only the narrative around it weren’t so flimsy.

“September Dawn” paints Mormons in an unflattering light. Its cinematic clumsiness does the film’s subtextual allusions to the modern world a disservice.

**

TITLE: “September Dawn”

RATING: R (Violence, bloodshed and mature themes)

CREDITS: Directed by Christopher Cain. Written by Mr. Cain and Carole Whang Schutter.

RUNNING TIME: 111 minutes

WEB SITE: www.september dawn.net

MAXIMUM RATING: FOUR STARS