Plus One at an Amish Wedding

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.

This was a better than usual UP TV movie. The scenery was so beautiful and the acting was fine. If I had to make a criticism it would be the wardrobe that April chose to wear to meet her boyfriend's Amish family. When she was packing her suitcase, her friend pointed out that the Amish dress differently and basically held up a spaghetti string shirt to say "don't wear this". But when they show April coming to Amish country she is wearing a cut in sleeveless top and pants. The next day she is wearing a dress, but it also has her shoulders exposed. April is an intelligent Doctor from New York, how did she miss that you don't wear this type of exposed clothes to Amish country? Other than that and the boyfriend's Mom's horrible attitude this was a fun 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.

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.

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.