Freetown

Although suffused with welcome touches of sly humor, the proceedings never gather the necessary dramatic momentum.

The film, based on true events, feels dramatic and thrilling at moments. Other times, its heavy-handed proselytizing mars the proceedings.

In total, Freetown delivers a powerful message despite limited means, and marks another success for an emerging filmmaker.

The inexperienced cast is earnest but wooden, easily upstaged by the stark beauty of the Ghanaian countryside where the movie was filmed.

A compelling story with fascinating characters, undone by a script that does the opposite of what its real-life Liberian missionaries would do: it doesn't take any chances.

It's a satisfying surprise indeed to find a "Mormon movie" willing to confront the church's legacy of racism head-on.

Through the adventure, both powerful and funny, Batty and co-screenwriter Melissa Leilani Larson also create a deeply moving depiction of day-to-day missionary work.

Cinematographer Jeremy Prusso catches some stunning imagery, Robert Allen Elliott's score is genuinely stirring, and the cast, most of whom are from Monrovia, is uniformly excellent.

Draggy and one-note, [Freetown is] an indie more interested in reaffirming Mormon dogma than in delivering compelling drama.

A dawdling, flat account of African missionaries on the run from rebels that takes forever to get going and even longer to arrive.