Fun

"Space Jam," "Oceans 11" +13 More Hilarious Mormon Mentions in Movies

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When watching LDS classics like The Singles Ward and The Best Two Years, you expect a movie laden with Mormon references. Then there are Hollywood movies—like The Saratov Approach and The Other Side of Heaven—based on the lives of Mormons where you also expect Latter-day Saint allusions.

► You'll also like: "Forrest Gump," "Rain Man" + 13 More Movies Based on Mormons' Lives

But then there come those rare, delightful moments when you are watching a movie and out of the blue comes a Mormon mention that fills you with that brief thrill of acknowledgment and familiarity.

Here are just a few of our favorite references to Mormons in popular movies:

► You'll also like: "Stranger Things" + 9 Other Funniest Mormon Mentions on TV Shows

Editor's note: This is merely a compilation of movies with LDS references; in no way is it an endorsement of the movies mentioned on this list. In addition, the clips provided are from Hollywood movies and do not reflect any of the beliefs of LDS Living staff. Watch at your own discretion. 

Thanks to ldsfilm.com and the Deseret News for making us aware of some of these references.

Lead images all from IMDb

Ocean's 11

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Image from IMDb

When pressing play on a movie all about heists, gambling, Las Vegas, theft, and hoodwinking a casino owner, you wouldn't think Latter-day Saints would come up. But then comes a hilarious scene where the character Turk Malloy—cruising in his beefed-up truck—tries to outrace a toy car enhanced by his brother Virgil. When he realizes he's going to come up short, Turk decides to run over rather than outrun the tiny car.

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Waiting

During this scene, you learn these two bickering brothers are Mormon twins from Utah. As Brad Pitt and George Clooney reveal in their dialogue:

“I talked to the Malloys yesterday.”
“The Mormon twins?”
“Mmhmm."
“They’re both in Salt Lake City, six months off the job. I got the sense they're having trouble filling the hours.”

Space Jam

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Image from IMDb

When aliens begin stealing the athletic ability of NBA stars in the Looney Tunes classic Space Jam, LDS basketball stars Danny Ainge and Shawn Bradley are featured in a hilarious montage of professional athletes seeking help for their sudden awfulness.

In one of the scenes, Shawn Bradley even mentions his LDS mission.

► You'll also like: 5 Famous Mormons Who Served Missions (and Where)

Speaking to a therapist, Bradley says, “I've got other skills. I could go back and work on the farm. Or maybe I could go back to the jungle and be a missionary again.”

The reference is at 2:10 in the clip below:

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Space Jam - Basketball Jones clip

S.W.A.T.

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Image from IMDb

Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, and LL Cool J taking on a host of hired men trying to break a drug kingpin out of prison. Just your typical perfect moment to learn a little bit about the Word of Wisdom.

While they might not have characterized LDS beliefs about drinking caffeine and eating fast food entirely accurately, here are a few funny Mormon mentions from this movie:

► You'll also like: Caffeine: What the Prophets Have Actually Said
Street (Colin Farrell): "You're a little too attached to that soda, Gus."
Gus (James DuMont): "Love that stuff! The wife would have my behind if she busted me suckin' that down."
Street: "Why, is she a Mr. Pibb fan?"
Gus: "You know the deal, Jim. When we got married I converted to Mormonism. We can't consume anything that alters our state of mind. We treat our bodies with respect."
Street: "And I treat mine like an amusement park. It's the differences that make this country great."

Later, when Gus is eating McDonald's:

Street: "Hey, Gus?"
Gus: "Yeah."
Street: "Isn't that eternal damnation you're chowing down there?"
Gus: "You can't tell Michelle."
Street: "Isn't she gonna smell the fries on your breath?"
Gus: "That's why God invented mouthwash. She'll never know."
Street: "Gus, you're cheating on your wife with fast food."
Gus: "You're right! You're absolutely right." [Pushes the food away.]

Cheaper by the Dozen

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Image from IMDb

Okay, so I guess it is not very shocking to have an LDS reference in a movie about a family with 12 kids. But what makes this mention interesting is that it highlights the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

When the Baker family begins overrunning their neighbor's house during a birthday party, the neighbor quips, "Next time, let's book the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, too."

This is the mayhem that ensues shortly after this quote:

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Cheaper by the Dozen (5/5) Movie CLIP - Best Party Ever (2003) HD

And, as ldsfilm.com notes, Steve Martin's comment after quitting his job ("If I screw up raising my kids nothing I achieve will matter much") seems to echo President David O. McKay's "No amount of success in this life can compensate for failure in the home."

Yes Man

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Image from Deseret News

After undergoing a mental transformation, Jim Carrey's character Carl decides to make a positive change in his life by saying "yes" to anything that comes his way. That's when two elders in white shirts appear at Carl's door, asking if he has a moment to hear about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

True to his new resolve, Carl tells the missionaries, "Yeah, come on in."

Fletch

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Image from IMDb

Journalist Irwin M. "Fletch" Fletcher (Chevy Chase) begins investigating an airline executive from Utah in this popular '80s comedy. With the antagonist of the plot from Provo, Utah, the movie is full of LDS allusions and mentions, including a scene where Fletch dresses up as an airplane mechanic to gather information.

After Fletch mentions a plane looks well used, the following dialogue ensues:

Technician Willy: "Goes back and forth to Utah every weekend."
Fletch: "Oh is that right? What, is he a Mormon?"
[Other technicians laugh loudly]
Technician Bud: "I don't think he's doing a whole lot of singing with the Tabernacle Choir."

Disclaimer: The clip below contains a mild profanity. Watch at your own discretion.

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Fletch (7/10) Movie CLIP - Fletch Inspects a Plane (1985) HD

Later, when showing some of his investigative evidence, Fletch shows a picture of the famous organ on Temple Square along with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

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Image from IMDb

When an alien probe is threatening to destroy Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk and the brave crew of the Starship Enterprise must go back in time to retrieve one of the only known creatures who can communicate with the probe—a humpback whale.

As the space travelers try to blend in with the 1980s crowd, Captain Kirk tries to explain Spock's strange behavior to a concerned woman, saying, "Back in the '60s he was part of the free speech movement at Berkeley. I think he did a little too much LDS."

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Star Trek IV: "A little too much LDS"

Starship Troopers

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Image from IMDb

Many have dissected the subtle ways Battlestar Galactica, created by Mormon Glen A. Larson, connects to Mormon theology—from Kolob to celestial marriage. But when it comes to the Hollywood film Starship Troopers, where humans are at war with an alien race called the Arachnids, the mentions are less subtle.

► You'll also like: Joseph Smith, Donny and Marie + Other Famous Mormons Who Appeared in DC and Marvel Comics

In fact, the movie shows an entire newsreel describing the destruction of Mormon extremists who tried to create their own colony in Arachnid territory:

"Every school kid knows that Arachnids are dangerous. However, Mormon extremists disregarded Federal warnings and established Port Joe Smith deep inside the Arachnid Quarantine Zone. Too late they realized that Dantana had already been chosen by other colonists—Arachnids."

Disclaimer: The following clip contains very graphic images. View at your own discretion.

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Starship Troopers Mormon Scene


Raising Arizona

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Image from IMDb

This cult classic starring Nicolas Cage features the antics of a poor couple from Arizona who want nothing more than to have a child. But when they run out of options, they decide to "help" a prominent family with quintuplets who "got more than [they] can handle" by kidnapping one of the sons to raise themselves.

Near the end of the movie, H.I. (Nicolas Cage) has a dream, and while he doesn't reference Mormons specifically, any Mormon who has seen the movie knows what he is talking about:

You can start the video at 1:50 to hear the reference.

Raising Arizona Ending from Ikonic Images on Vimeo.
"But still I hadn't dreamt nothing about me and Ed, until the end. And this was cloudier, 'cause it was years, years away, But I saw an old couple being visited by their children, and all their grandchildren, too. The old couple wasn't screwed up, and neither were their kids or their grandkids.
"And I don't know. You tell me. This whole dream—was it wishful thinking? Was I just fleeing reality like I know I'm liable to do? But me and Ed, we can be good, too. And it seemed real. It seemed like us. And it seemed like, well, our home. If not Arizona, then a land not too far away—where all parents are strong and wise and capable, and all children are happy and beloved. I don't know. Maybe it was Utah."

Three Men and a Little Lady

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Image from IMDb

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir gets another hat tip in this comedy about three grown men working together to raise a little girl. The mention comes when the girl's mother, Sylvia (Nancy Travis), tells Peter (Tom Selleck), Jack (Jack Holden), and Michael (Steve Guttenberg) that she and her daughter will be moving to England. The dialogue goes as follows:

"Sylvia, there's no more milk."
"I'm getting married."
"Don't overreact. I can get some milk."
"Jack, I think she's serious."
"You serious?"
"I'm very serious."
"You're getting married?"
"Yes."
"To someone specific?"
"No, to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir."

Paint Your Wagon

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Image from fanmovie.cz

In this unexpected Western musical comedy, a new character appears in town who is quickly subjected to an interrogation, during which the people realize they are undoubtedly talking to a Mormon:

"Just where are you people from"
"Illinois originally. I'm Jacob Woodling. This is my wife Sarah."
"And who might this fine young woman be?"
"Her name is Elizabeth Woodling."
"Your sister?"
"No, my wife."
[Shocked reactions] "Your wife? I thought that one was your wife."
"They both are."
"Holy Moses, the Mormons!"

Later, these characters reappear in the plot, along with a mention of Brigham Young that's not entirely historically accurate.

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scene from Paint Your Wagon

Jeremiah Johnson

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Image from IMDb

When rugged mountain man Jeremiah Johnson (Robert Redford) stumbles on a man buried to his neck in the sand, Johnson asks the stranger, "Did the Indians put you there?" To which the distressed man replies, "T'weren't the Mormons."

Disclaimer: The clip below contains mild profanity. Watch at your own discretion.

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Tweren't the Mormons

Two Weeks Notice

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Image from IMDb

This romcom featuring Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant tells the story of a hardworking attorney and Harvard graduate who finds herself working for a multimillionaire playboy who rarely thinks of anything besides himself—until he meets Lucy (Sandra Bullock). When Lucy discovers her boss invited her and another woman to a benefit event, she talks to her best friends about the predicament. And while she does not mention Mormons by name, Lucy falls back on a cliche (and inaccurate) reference to polygamy.

Friend: "You should have gone with George."
Lucy: "Well, he asked June."
Friend: "Not exclusively. He asked you, too."
Lucy: "He asked me, too? How many women do you think a man should take to dinner? Maybe in Utah."

Chicago

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Image from IMDb

When the Broadway play Chicago was adapted into the Academy Award-winning Best Picture in 2002, Latter-day Saints couldn't help but notice the Mormon reference during the "Cell Block Tango." Like many LDS references, it wasn't accurate in its reference to polygamy, a practice which ended in the 19th century. Yet, it is unexpected to hear Mormons mentioned while murderesses confess their crimes through song.

Here's a portion of the song below:

"I met Ezekiel Young from Salt Lake City about two years ago and he told me he was single and we hit it off right away. So, we started living together. He'd go to work; he'd come home; I'd mix him a drink; we'd have dinner. Well, it was like heaven in two-and-a-half rooms. And then I found out. 'Single,' he told me? . . . Not only was he married, oh, no, he had six wives. One of those Mormons, you know. So that night, when he came home, I mixed him his drink as usual. You know, some guys just can't hold their arsenic."

Monty Python's the Meaning of Life

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Image from cinaplex.com

In this British comedy featuring funny and often bizarre sketches, an impoverished Catholic father tells his children he will need to sell them to make ends meet. His explanation quickly devolves into a comical and irreverent song about Catholic beliefs (particularly those surrounding birth control), a song which also mentions other religions, including Mormons:

"There are Jews in the world, There are Buddhists, There are Hindus and Mormons and then, There are those that follow Mohammed, But I've never been one of them . . . "
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