Review Rough Draft

The Lifetime Original Movie, Amish Grace, was based on a true story of the before and aftermath of the 2006 schoolhouse shooting in Nickel Mines, PN. Gunman Charles Carl Roberts (John Churchill), the milk man of the community, took ten girls hostage and let all of the boys go, eventually taking the lives of five girls, seriously injuring five more, and taking his own life, as well. Struggling with the loss of her daughter and the decisions of the community –Ida Garber (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) is left with the conflicting decision of leaving her family, being shun, and starting a new life. With her faith tugging at one end, calling for forgiveness for those who have sinned against them, and her conscious at the other, it leaves viewers wondering, will Ida re-embrace her faith? The remarkably touching storyline leaves viewers with tears in their eyes and an ache in their heart as the end credits roll.

Like most Lifetime Original Movie films the plot deals with murder and betrayal and although Amish Grace follows the plot of most other Lifetime Movies, it has its own distinct flavor. The emotional foundation of the movie pulls on the strings of the actors (and viewers) hearts. While Amy Roberts (Tammy Blanchard) is dealing with grief of her husband rather being “in hell” than with her and their children; the Garber’s are dealing with their family falling apart, as well. When I first saw the preview I thought it looked like a good movie, but from experience, I was never a fan of ‘based on a true story’ type movies –especially if it was coming from Lifetime.

From afar the movie is filled with real Amish traditions but as the movie goes on the director, Gregg Champion, intended to make the lifestyle and tragedy they went to seem real to an outsider. Amish Grace conveys the image of how one action can hurt a whole community. Champion even went as far as explaining in Charles Carl Roberts suicide note that he wanted to take their lives because of two reasons, their lack of technology –making them more vulnerable, and he was mad at God for taking his newborn daughter ten years ago.

With the characters being a bit ‘unknown’ –I was filled with some doubt before actually watching the movie. However, as the touching movie went on, I was proven wrong. The cast did a remarkable job of portraying the hurt in everyone’s heart, and the grief that is worldwide. One thing that was a bit displacing is in the movie they did not tear down the schoolhouse building like they did in real life; something I feel should have been portrayed merely because it showed the ‘forgive and forget’ aspect of the Amish tradition. This is what the whole plotline had been about from the start with Ida questioning her faith and tearing the building down in the movie would have tied it all together very well.

Although it is common that Amish people only attract attention because of their willingness to not have electricity, and to rather ride a horse and buggy than drive a vehicle to their destinations, Amish Grace proved that on October 2, 2006 the Amish community attracted attention for all the wrong reasons. However, Amish Grace gave an amazing portrayal of forgiveness and faiths, showing the honest struggle people go through when it comes to conflicting feelings and tragedy.