After a bumpy start, “Trek: The Movie” settles down, gets good
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Do you ever wake up in the morning a little disoriented? Maybe you might have trouble getting your bearings and finding your balance?
The first act of “Trek: The Movie” is a lot like that. It staggers around for the first twenty minutes or so, a discombobulated dance of exposition and character introductions. But once the movie finds its feet at the start of the second act, “Trek” treats us to a heartwarming tale about spirituality and rediscovering your faith.
“Trek” is an ensemble piece, focusing on Tom (Austin R. Grant), who relents into going on a church Pioneer Trek (an event described as “Mormon cosplay” at one point) when his dad offers to buy him a season pass to a ski resort. Tom joins a group of LDS youth and their leaders in wheeling handcarts through the desert, reenacting similar scenarios from when the Mormon Pioneers crossed the midwestern plains of America in the mid-1800s.
The plot involves a little romance, a junk food black market and lots of walking. But what “Trek” is really about is how Tom lost his faith, and how people he encounters on this excursion help him deal with that, in particularly non-Mormon Anna (Stefania Barr) and Brother Pratt (Joel Bishop), the trek’s leader. The story in this movie is really found in its characters, not the events they experience. This is a flick about people, not plot.
Because “Trek” is such a character-focused piece, the writing, acting and direction really need to be up to snuff. For the most part, they are. The script is sturdy, full of plausible, relatable people. Though some of the dialogue is a little clunky and you can see how the plot will twist from miles away, the characters are compelling enough to hold your interest and Tom’s arc keeps you hooked.
The acting is also pretty. Grant and Barr are perfectly authentic as teenagers going through change. In fact, all the kids in this movie feel like real kids, which is exactly how they need to feel. Bishop gets a scene that serves as the emotion epicenter of the movie, and he knocks it out of the park. There are beats here and there where the actors go too far over the top, but for all the emotional beat that matter, the performances really deliver.
Director Alan Peterson does a good job of capturing those performances and letting them shine. His direction is simple and sturdy. He and the cinematographer capture some epic vistas and use the beautiful Utah countryside to full advantage. It gives the movie some scope and makes it feel bigger than it actually is.
“Trek” is a film that can wow you with the awesomeness of nature one moment, then tug at your heartstrings the next. Props to Peterson for finding the right balance between the two.
While “Trek” gets a lot right, there are still some noticeable missteps, beyond the way the film opens. The humor is this flick is hit-and-miss. Some jokes are laugh-out-loud funny, while others are eye-rollers not even the funniest Dad could get away with. The absurdity of some jokes and characters is really at odds with the more naturalistic, relatable tone of the film. And I really wanted to see more of the two Samoan dudes, possibly because of the way they’re set up in the first act. Maybe they can get a movie of their own?
All flaws considered, “Trek: The Movie” is still a trek worth taking. It features likable characters dealing with relatable issues in ways that are genuinely moving. “Trek” hits DVD/Blu-Ray and I-Tunes on July 3, so if you’re looking for an edifying family movie about rebuilding faith, give it a try.