Un mondo nuovo

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.

I am not Amish so I cannot pretend to know their ways and customs. That being said, I have always been under the impression that Amish people do not do schooling beyond 8th grade. So, how did the male lead character manage entirely on his own, to get into college with no high school education, transcript, and make it all the way as a veterinarian? I genuinely don't think it would have been possible. That little mistake kind of stuck in my head the whole movie. The movie was cute and I enjoyed it though. That mom and their beliefs seemed terrifying tbh. It made it seem like the Amish tend to hate everyone who isn't Amish. The Amish ex was really flirtatious which seems also out of character for Amish. The sister had no accent and spoke like a typical teen, so that added to the hard to believe aspect. Still, I really enjoyed it and adored the two leads. They were so great and sweet together and had such believable chemistry. Would love to see them in more, except perhaps on Hallmark and not Amish. Just playing normal American people who fall in love or whatever.

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.

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.

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.