After 19-year-old Mormon missionary Aaron (Sandvoss) leaves his rural Idaho home for the pagan wilds of Los Angeles, he's and his missionary partner (Gordon-Levitt) are immediately confronted by their welcoming but obviously gay neighbour Christian (Ramsey). Aaron feels an immediate physical attraction that he channels into evangelical zeal, while Christian makes a bet with his coworkers (Jordan and Payton) that he can bed one of the Mormons. But it's much more complicated than that, as any hint of homosexuality for Aaron will result in excommunication.

There are so many interesting things going on in this film that you can forgive Cox his too-neat plotting. He obviously knows what he's writing about (the story is autobiographical) as it touches on such Mormon hot potatoes as racism, sexuality and gender roles in a knowing, unblinking way that's both witty and refreshing. And it really comes together when the characters begin trying to discover meaning in life. Somehow Cox keeps this from being corny and preachy, for the most part, presenting it as a sincere quest that in this case has a genuinely intriguing conclusion, no matter how convenient it all may be.

The cast is very good, especially Sandvoss and Ramsey, who convey Aaron's and Christian's internal discoveries and outward changes in revealing ways. And they have terrific chemistry together that makes their growing relationship believable, especially in a climactic hotel room scene that shows real intimacy without being prurient. And a powerful scene between Aaron and his mother (Place) has a very different kind of raw authenticity to it, as do a series of scenes between Christian and an Aids patient (Palladino). And while the film is far too sweet and tidy (and more than a little unbalanced in the its treatment of the Mormon church), it's also a moving personal story told in a natural and thoughtful way.