Harvest of Fire

Wonderful television movie dealing with the Amish people.

What makes this film so good is that at by the end these people are willing to accept their own mistakes and come together. Obviously, Amish people have strong family values as they shun technological advancement.

Lolita Davidovich is wonderful as the FBI agent sent to the Amish country to investigate a series of barn burnings. She is equally matched by Patty Duke, an understanding Amish women, who while accepting the values of her people, also knows how to relate somewhat to the outside world.

There are the usual cast of characters who come under immediate suspicion. We can't jump to conclusions and while the ending may be a shock to others, it still shows the cohesiveness of these people in times of adversity.

This is a beautifully done film.

I considered the first two-thirds of the film fairly interesting, as I didn't know much about Amish customs. However, the resolution of who did the barn burnings (which I won't reveal here) struck me as very false, contrived, and unbelievable.

"Harvest" opens with the gathering of an Amish group at what seems to be a wedding. After a few scenes, we flash back to the wedding party, and they spot a local barn burning. The village rushes about to save the barn and animals, but then we see more and more barns burning. FBI agent Sally Russell (Lolita Davidovich) gets assigned to the scene, and stops to speak with the local sheriff ( J.A. Preston) to get information and get started. Of course, she meets up with the Amish and makes a couple blunders, but they seem to smile and brush it off. Then she's off to the local bar to poke around and stir things up there too. Stuff happens... more stuff happens. Sally spends more time with the Amish, and befriends Annie, and they educate each other on the ways of their different worlds. Slow, mild, simmering story. Not a whole lot of excitement here. We learn a bit about the beliefs of the Amish people, but there are definitely mistakes made here and there in authenticity. There are a couple possible suspects in the fires, but no-one slips up and gives themselves away ahead of time....we'll all have to wait for the ending. And all those commercials, since it's on the Hallmark Channel.

Directed by Arthur Seidelman, who was nominated for two Emmies back in the 1980s. He also directed a bunch of "Murder, She Wrote" episodes.

This is a film that is beatifully done in every sense. Its direction, its acting (Patty Duke is marvelous), its music, its writing, just everything. It's as gorgeous as looking at one of the amish's quilts.

From Hallmark Hall of Fame, this was the year's second highest-rated tv movie.

Let me put this delicately - this ain't exactly an ensemble piece. If you take away the meaningful dialogue between Lolita Davidovich and Patty Duke, you end up with about 15 minute of film left, including footage of 4 barns burning down.

And, perhaps it's due to my proximity to the Pennsylvania Amish area, but I really thought it was a tad condescending to the audience to have the Sheriff explain and pontificate on the Amish customs every time he and the FBI agent head out to investigate.