The Shunning

Absolutely lovely story about the coming of age of a young adopted woman. Especially impressed with the performances of Danielle Panabaker, who really nailed the Amish accent, and newcomer David Topp, who I hope will be brought back in what is sure to be a series of wonderful, family friendly movies. We are looking forward to the rest of the series.

Would like to congratulate Michael Landon Jr. for choosing a terrific cast and crew, the beautiful filming of the movie makes it even more enjoyable. Also enjoyed the look inside the Amish culture, and, while I realize it may not all be exactly accurate, it is a compelling story which kept our whole family interested. We will be very disappointed if Hallmark does not decide to continue and finish the series. Would really like to see the same cast back for continuity, and because they were all really great!

I bought this movie simply because Sherry Stringfield was listed in the cast. I watched it with my 16 year old daughter who is also adopted. She loved the story. I loved the premise of the story. We even found the whole illegal adoption part to be believable. I am also versed in Amish tradition but did not allow anything to detract from the story being told. I was disappointed because there were so many things left hanging. I would have loved to see more in regards to the Bishop's family dynamics. I would have loved to know more about how Laura went from dire straits to heiress. I really would have loved to see a physical connection with Laura and Katie to see where that relationship would have gone. And I really, really would have loved seeing Daniel and Katie finding each other again. Guess I am going to have to read the book. Sigh. However, many MANY kudos to Michael Landon, Jr. for attempting to bring back family friendly television viewing. He succeeded in MY house.

Today is the first opportunity I have had to watch this movie, and so far I am in the middle of it and enjoying it a great deal. HOWEVER, there is one glaring error made in costuming the actors who are playing the parts of the Amish people.

All sects of Amish and most sects of Mennonites do not wear any kind of jewelry whatsoever, including and especially wedding bands. I have so far seen four actors playing Amish parts wearing gold wedding bands. The actor playing Katie's father is wearing a very wide gold band, and the mother has on a narrower band. The older Amish lady Katie goes to talk to early on after she has found out about her parentage is also wearing a gold wedding band, and another hand was seen wearing one, but I'm not sure who it belonged to because of the way the scene was shot and edited.

This should be something that is very basic to know about the Amish people, if one does even the most basic research on how these people live and worship. Strongly recommend that much closer attention be paid to such details if future productions are being planned.

Although I'm quite skeptical about films with a strong religious element, I did very much enjoy this story still. It's a "feel good drama" and I do love to see lives different from my own, and I think this film does this well.

Although I do think many people can connect with trying to figure out who you are in the world, and not quite feeling like you fit in or belong. I think it's pretty well written overall. It has some cheesy lines from the religious folk, who try and help Katie, but I think they can be forgiven because the characters are quite endearing.

Having read all the books in the series, I was really looking forward to this movie. Many people have complained about the fact that this movie did not follow the books. I think most movies that are made from books are quited different from the books themselves. Still, even though the book and the movie were quite different from each other I thought the movie was wonderful! The characters were very believable and if you just enjoy the movie without thinking of the book I think you will find it extremely enjoyable. I myself hope they continue on with the series and make each one into a movie. Even the Love's series by Janet Oke were quite different once put into a movie. Still, it is a great family movie and one that the whole family can watch without blushing or worrying about language. I am thankful for movies like this that prove you can have a good movie without all the trash. Keem em coming!!