Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Edison Witt The first must-see film of the year.

Anna Smith I liked the overall look of this film and also the work of the actors. Escpecially the main characters, Amish girl and her lawyer do a good job, I like the closeup shots of their eyes and faces, those are wonderful, to portray emotions and expressions in their eyes in such a way is really good. The problem of this movie is that it is trying to be a thriller and an psychological movie at the same time. It could have chosen one or the other, that would have made it more intense. I think a murder mystery thriller in the Amish environment would have been a mighty good idea. Or then full-time psychological drama, the clash of Amish world and regular Western world through personal drama of one person. At the moment this hoovering on the border of both genres makes the movie weaker. In spite of this, overall it was an interesting movie, and the actors did a really good job.

caa821 While watching this film, I glanced at comments previously made on this site. Although few in number, they had a wider range than for most films. I haven't read the book, but can understand how it contained information and interesting studies of relationships between characters in greater detail than the time available would allow in the movie. And there are always variances in opinions, but usually not this great. For example, based upon its ratings, I may be one of the few people in the country who has seen CSI very seldom, and I wasn't familiar with Mariska Hargitay. However, I may start ensuring I view it in the future. Her performance here was outstanding, and she is a completely attractive presence. I had never heard of Alison Pill, either, and her performance was equally well-done. (In looking-up her profile here, she is a real cutie - not entirely hidden in the film, but unavoidably dimmed by the nature of her character.As with very good movies like this one, the supporting characters and cast performances were excellent, as was, of course, the story. The Amish represent a very culture to view, and having lived for many years in an area with Amish, I feel their society was represented fairly, respectfully and accurately. As others have mentioned, the plot does keep one guessing and yet each aspect is believable. In so many films where the story has a lot of twists and turns, either the story has contrivances needed to create them, and they sometimes detract, rather than enhance, the overall presentation. Neither was the case here. Not only an outstanding film, but one you look forward to seeing again, or perhaps buying a copy.

wilson-pote COULD have been a fine film, but the slipshod script and corny manipulations made it annoying instead. Oh for intelligent dialogue and more plausible story clashes: Katie insists on telling the plain truth in court, and yet has had no compunction re lying to Ellie at every turn.Easy on the eyes, this film is flakey on the brain and thus misses the heart. I am sure the author of the book felt sad to see what became of her sensitive story. The cast did their admirable best, especially the main family as well as Hargitay and LaPaglia. Kate Trotter's subtle genius as the mother was the highlight of the film. These gifted actors surely deserved better than a director who seems to assume his viewers are plain stupid. Watchable, yes, but what a let-down!

mee_n_ky This movie was wonderful. It had you guessing the whole time and changing your mind about what happened. I felt so sorry for Katie she wanted to tell the truth so that her family would still accept her and she could stay in the community but then Ellie wanted her to stand up for herself so that she wouldn't go to prison. When you thought you knew what happened the story changed just enough to make you change your mind. Mariska Hargitay and Alison Pill are great actresses. I have always loved Hargitay's work and can't wait to view more of Pill's work. I hope everyone else takes the time to watch this movie. Hope to see more movies like this soon.