Un mondo nuovo

Stopped watching half way through out of frustration. The music was so loud you could not hear the dialogue. April wasn't really a likable character. It was a waste. I picked this movie because I wanted a movie with no poor hard working damsel in distress getting saved by the secretly rich boy friend. Was glad to find a couple of equal standing. But no. This wasn't pleasant to watch. Even with the sound down and sub titles. I enjoy Hallmark movies because of the simple romances but am always frustrated that the female characters always need to be saved or taken care of by the guy or they have to some how change for the guy.

The two leads are married to each other and their previous Amish movie, Follow Your Heart, was one of my least favorite movies because it was unrealistic and rather disrespectful in its portrayal of the Amish.

This movie is so much better! I liked the script and the setting, and the leads were genuinely nice people throughout.

I found it amusing that there were no kisses during the movie between the leads, even though they were in love and had been dating for 6 months. No kisses allowed in these romance movies until the very end! It's a rule, I guess.

The Amish family was initially divided in their acceptance of April, as was expected, but everything turned out good in the end. No villains left. There was love and forgiveness. A sweet movie.

Real pleasant surprise here.

What I liked:

1) The whole premise was a lot of fun and well executed. I liked how they were fair in their film treatment of both "English" and Amish life.

2) Pretty believable plot all things considered. Yes, there were plot holes and times you had to otherwise suspend disbelief. But generally I was able to stay in the movie.

3) Good acting and character chemistry. The actors seemed to genuinely enjoy being in this film and it showed. On screen, the relationships did not feel forced.

4) Without spoilers, the resolution of the film was fun. Hallmark should take notes, because this is how you do it.

What I didn't like:

1) Sound was awful and inconsistent as others have noted. Also, while the cinematography was good, the color filtering was also not consistent.

This was a movie that was hurt badly by the sound. My wife and I kept cracking up by the audio that was reminiscent of when the first talking movie was being made in ' Singing in the Rain'. You could always tell where the mic was on the actors and the foley artist should have been let go. The actors were good and believable in their roles and was certainly Christian based as dating scenes ended in a warm handshake rather than a night of passion. Sadly, we couldn't believe that no one noticed the horrendous sound and sound editing that reduced an otherwise good movie into an unnecessary and unintentional comedy.

This is not the usual Sunday night on UpTV or like Saturday might on rival network Hallmark. There's no family business to save or protagonist up for a promotion if she closes a deal, or any of the other way too common story lines. (There is a rival old flame.) Instead we have a story about tension between family members and lifestyles and how that progresses and gets worked through among people who have a lot of love.

Sometimes a movie set in an Amish setting is hard on the Amish in general or some of their practices. Any faults of any of these Amish characters are just as likely in any ethnic group including the "English". Mom is rude and stubborn. She is mean to April but she is also overly demanding of her daughter. That never happens among the "English" (sarcasm). The mean rival ex girlfriend definitely could have been a woman likely to wear a sleeveless dress or pants as easily as the Amish attire. I find it interesting that this movie shows more similarities between the two groups than differences. Nor did this movie require the man who grew up Amish to compromise any principles if he decided to choose the "English" lifestyle. I really like how this was done.

April is a very likable character although I agree with another reviewer who questions why she would initially choose to dress in a way she had to know would be considered inappropriate by the Amish mom. I think perhaps it was to emphasize a later choice. Galadriel Stineman and Kevin Joy have the chemistry that you'd expect from a real-life married couple.