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"Don Verdean"

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Premieres

Director Jared Hess' fourth movie, "Don Verdean," is his most consistently funny movie since "Napoleon Dynamite," and his most mature. Sam Rockwell plays the title character, a biblical archaeologist who aims to find faith-promoting items (like the shears that cut Samson's hair). Don and his faithful assistant Carol (Amy Ryan) are hired by preacher Tony Lazarus (Danny McBride) to find some big artifacts, so he can pack 'em in the pews and fend off a rival minister (Will Forte). Don heads to the Holy Land, working with an Israeli fixer, Boaz (Jemaine Clement), to find artifacts — but when that goes wrong, they conspire to falsify some items. Hess gets the most out of his talented cast and the Utah locations. The script, by Hess and his wife/writing partner Jerusha Hess, is chock-a-block with hilarious gags, but also carries a thoughtful message about the power of faith and the temptation to take short cuts.

- Sean P. Means

"Don Verdean" is screening in the Premieres section at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It screens again: Thursday, 9 a.m., Eccles Theatre, Park City; Friday, 6:30 p.m., Peery's Egyptian Theatre, Ogden; Saturday, 9:15 p.m., The Grand Theatre, Salt Lake City.