John H. Groberg, a middle class kid from Idaho Falls, crosses the Pacific to become a Mormon missionary in the remote and exotic Tongan island kingdom during the 1950's. He leaves behind a loving family and the true love of his life, Jean. Through letters and musings across the miles, John shares his humbling and sometimes hilarious adventures with "the girl back home", and her letters buoy up his spirits in difficult times. John must struggle to overcome language barriers, physical hardship and deep-rooted suspicion to earn the trust and love of the Tongan people he has come to serve. Throughout his adventure-filled three years on the islands, he discovers friends and wisdom in the most unlikely places. John H. Groberg's Tongan odyssey will change his life forever.
"An Epic Journey."
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Wuchak
5/24/2025
4 / 10
**_A Mormon lad ventures to the South Pacific_**
In 1953, a graduate of Brigham Young University (Christopher Gorham) accepts a 3-year mission to reach the people on an island in Tonga. He faces many challenges as he keeps in touch with his beloved back in Twin Falls (Anne Hathaway).
“The Other Side of Heaven” (2001) is a coming-of-age adventure augmented by the paradisal locations of the South Pacific. It works to some degree because it’s based on the real-life story. What happens with the boy, for instance, really took place, not to mention the protagonist’s feet injuries.
While this was shot before Disney’s “The Princess Diaries” (2001), producers decided to delay its release until after that one’s debut in order to capitalize on the anticipated success of Hathaway. It’s not actually a Disney flick, but was distributed by that company in the wake of Hathaway’s popularity.
This brings us to one of the criticisms of the movie: Anne’s role is relegated to the beginning and end, with some letter-oriented narration in between. The heart of the movie is the protagonist’s relationship with about 25 Tongans on the island and the waters nearby.
The dealbreaker for me is that the youthful missionary is a Mormon, which is (wisely) kept from the potential viewer investigating the DVD/Blu-ray or reading superficial blurbs online. Basically, you’re duped into thinking it’s a story of an actual Christian missionary.
For those not in the know, Mormons basically believe that Joseph Smith’s Book of Mormon and LDS teachings supersede Holy Scripture. This is not to say that a person under the label of Mormon CAN’T be a true believer since God goes by belief in the heart and the corresponding fruit. Let me put it this way: Just because you put a label of beans on a can of corn, doesn’t make the corn a can of beans.
Forgetting all that, I just felt the proceedings were curiously superficial, although there are some highlights. If you want real-life depth with jungle adventure in the South Pacific, check out “Mutiny on the Bounty” (1962) or “The Bounty.” Even fictional flicks like “Return to the Blue Lagoon” and “Six Days Seven Nights” are superior choices. This is somehow too light, but it didn’t have to be.
Christopher Gorham returned to the role for a 2019 sequel, although another actress replaced Hathaway for the role of Jean.
It runs 1 hour, 53 minutes, and was shot in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, which is due east of Tonga; and also Auckland, New Zealand (e.g. the BYU scenes).
GRADE: C/C-
