Outlaw Prophet: Warren Jeffs (2014 TV Movie) User Reviews

Being a Prophet has its perks

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 11 November 2016]

I've heard from Mormon people, both apostate and in good standing that polygamy itself was to be a temporary condition in order to grow the newly found church. Still a lot of people found that quite distasteful and Utah was not admitted as a state until 1897 when the church formally abolished it. Still there are some old believers out there and Outlaw Prophet: Warren Jeffs is the story of one of them.

Tony Goldwyn plays Warren Jeffs who upon the death of his father became the high potentate of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints a breakaway group that still practices polygamy. The father Rulon Jeffs played by Martin Landau was as megalomaniacal, but had a certain sense of discretion that the son never inherited.

Being the prophet has its perks including choosing some nice young wives for yourself and selected cronies. As he started reserving jail bait for himself and friends it got to the attention of law enforcement. After that he and his sect became fugitives with Warren Jeffs on the FBI's most wanted list.

Goldwyn and Landau and the rest of the cast turn in good performances, but I found the film to be sensational and exploitive given its subject matter which was treated quite superficially.

Timeline and facts are wrong (Possible Spoilers)

[pattywhite324 · 3/10 · 13 July 2014]

I've always been interested in the lifestyle of the FLDS sect. I've read many first hand stories of lives escaped from the sect as well as Elissa Wall's story. First of all, Uncle Rulon was alive before when she was married to her cousin Alan Steed. Next, most children feared and disliked "Uncle Warren." Additionally, it was not Warren who advised that Elissa would be married to Alan but it was her new father, Elissa fought the union to the end. Thus far this time line is all wrong as are the facts. One thing that was right was the fact that Warren was not supposed to be leader of the church. The creepy and disgusting vibe is shown well. I realize that movie producers take certain liberties with stories but one such as monumental and compelling as this could have been more factually relevant.

An eye-opening insight into life inside FLDS

[uxoc · 26 January 2020]

Warren Jeffs, played by Tony Goldwyn, is the son of the prophet, Rulon "Uncle" Jeffs, played by Martin Landau, of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). The prophet is an all-powerful ruler who dictates how his followers live, including who they marry.

When the prophet lays in his deathbed, his son, Warren, decides that he will become the new prophet - despite his father ordering otherwise - and becomes a more controlling, more forceful leader who shows growing signs of mental instability as the story unfolds.

The movie follows Warren's rise to power and his ultimate downfall - caused by his marriage of underage girls (as young as fourteen years of age), both to himself and to others. The latter part of the movie follows the criminal proceedings against Warren by one his own followers - an underage girl who was forced into having sexual intercourse with her husband - who testified against him in his sexual assault of a minor trial.

Warren was sentenced to life imprisonment. Through visits by his followers to the prison, Warren continues to preach to his still 10,000 faithful followers who believe that their prophet has been taken away from them by the evil of the outside world.

If you're looking to get a perspective into the life of a polygamist family, this is a good movie to watch. It's both insightful and entertaining, making for an enjoyable watch.

Hiding in plain sight

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 1 March 2018]

This is the latest Lifetime type film offered up at Redbox. Based on a true story the film opens with Warren Jeffs (Tony Goldwyn) running from the police. We then jump to 4 years earlier where we see his rise to power as it portrays the FLDS community as polygamists, perverts and child rapists...following God's will as stated by the polygamists, perverts, and child rapists.

After an hour we get to the point where we started, followed by 20 minutes of chase and ten minutes of court and jail time.

The characters in the film are one dimensional and cardboard, perhaps by design but it makes it tough to sit through. It was nice to see Martin Landau still alive, but when you are type cast into roles where you are old and die...

The movie makes the prophet idea look bad and is perhaps the left wing answer to "Mitt" which made him look like a regular guy. It would have been more interesting if they exposed main stream Mormon beliefs other than the "Highest honor for a woman is to be a mother." I want to hear more about becoming a God, getting your own planet and having your wife (s) push out babies to populate it. What would Freud say about that male fantasy.

The film has no swearing. The nudity on the DVD cover is indeed in the film, although what classifies as nudity for TV in the U.S. is not in the film...i.e. you don't get much more than what is on the cover. The production does show Warren having sex with a young girl while the rest of his nude wives watch. He introduces God into the bedroom in a way that I found darkly comical with one girl repeating, "I feel God within you Uncle Warren" while they have sex.

Oh yes girl/girl action seems to be okay in the bedroom as long as they are not lesbians.

And in case you haven't figured it out, this is just the tip of the iceberg.