Plus One at an Amish Wedding

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.

In a word, lazy. Especially on the research. Have you ever spoken to an Amish person? A doctor? Those are your characters, do more than a Google search next time.

Stunning lack of attention to detail. So many goofed details. I've never seen celery that grows already cut.

Completely unrealistic portrayal of Amish culture. It was actually pretty cringy to watch. This is not how they act, not how they talk, and now how they live. Also, gigantic wardrobe fails. Completely glossed over the religious aspect of Amish life(which is 98% of Amish life).

Poorly acted. I've rarely been less convinced. Leading couple had no on screen chemistry, like watching siblings kiss, ugh.

Poorly written, seriously, the writers have chosen the wrong line of work. Please quit.

Better yet, all parties involved, quit. Find different professions. It won't bother you that much, you obviously don't care about your craft and have no talent for it anyway.

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.

It's a romantic drama in modern times set in New York City and a fictional Stone County, Pennsylvania. It follows the romance of a young veterinarian and a young medical doctor complicated by the vet's Amish heritage.

April Monroe (Galadriel Stineman) is a doctor in her first job at a prominent New York hospital. She is naturally gregarious, but her boss pressures her for spending too much time with patients. She meets young veterinarian Jesse Hardin (Kevin Joy) through a couple of coincidences, and they immediately hit it off. However, April is puzzled because Jesse does not reveal much about himself.

Six months later, April and Jesse are still a thing. We meet April's sister, May (Mary McElree), who married an African American man, Rob (Jordon Crusoe). Jesse must postpone a planned trip with April because his brother, Levi (Travis James), is getting married. Jesse then discloses his family is Amish and that he left the Amish as a teenager after rumspringa for the English world. April goes with Jesse to the wedding and meets his widowed mother, Esther (Pamela Daly), and his younger sister, Rachel (Mercedes Marcial). She also meets Naomi Trotter (Summer Mastain), Jesse's former Amish girlfriend, who is now recently widowed.

The film follows April's reception by various members of Jesse's family and the Amish community and her responses to the positive and negative reactions to her relationship with Jesse. This is a romance movie, so it ends well.

The scenery is lovely. The buggies and clothing don't fit Lancaster County, so the location is elsewhere. There is some nuance among the Amish characters, which is good. The dynamics are easier to portray because Jesse was never baptized into the Amish church. There are some oddities--during the wedding ceremony of Jesse's brother, the congregation did not look at the couple but stared straight ahead. Some of the vocal liberties that Esther and Naomi take are un-Amish. Most Amish accept English doctors but do like natural medicine when possible. However, generally, the film gave the Amish more personality than is usual in Amish movies.

The script was somewhat predictable, though some characters made artificially quick decisions to create the appropriate climax.

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.