"Growing Up Amish" by Ira Wagler

When I was a teenager I dreamt of going back to a more "natural" lifestyle, one of community, homespun clothes and the hard work which goes with it. I never thought about those who were already doing that and wanted a piece of the life I was leading. Ira Wagler was one of those. As a child of the Amish community he longed to see beyond the narrow borders of his own world, just as I was straining to look into a world more like his. And that's the most fascinating thing about this book. We all want to be somewhere, or someone, else.

The author leaves home 3 different times, with a friend, in search of something different than the way in which he was raised. But he always returns, like the Prodigal Son, to the place he began. Along the way he works at odd jobs, relying on the very strengths which he learned in the Amish community to make a living. His journey is both spiritual, and in some cases, comical, as when he and his friend bought an old car. His adventures are mostly innocent forays into the secular world, for which he was not entirely prepared.

When all is said and done, Ira Wagler, and the reader, both learn that we are all more a product of our upbringings then we would sometimes care to admit. For better, or worse, we are all just who we are, plus, or minus, any changes we might make to ourselves along the way.

"Saving Sarah Cain" with Elliott Gould, Lisa Pepper and Tess Harper

I must have passed this one by a hundred times in the library without picking it up. I put it in the "chick flick" category and ignored it. My loss, as I could have enjoyed this film a couple of years earlier.

Elliott Gould is the crusty, browbeaten editor of a newspaper in Oregon. His best columnist, Sarah Cain, played by Lisa Pepper, is having a writers block. Her columns have been reduced from real journalism to things like "6 Ways to Use Cheese." She is being outpaced by a younger and "foxier" reporter who has caught the eye of the editor. Things are looking down for Sarah until she receives a fateful phone call.

As a young girl, Sarah and her sister were close. They were more than that. They were one. They played at the shore and collected 10 perfect seashells each, vowing to look at them each day and pray for the other. They also promised never to leave one another. So when Sarah's sister gets married and moves to Pennsylvania and her new life in the Amish community, the ties between the two are broken.

When Sarah receives word that her sister, by now a widow with 4 children, has passed away, she heads for the funeral. With her job at stake this is no easy decision. But what happens when she gets there will alter her life forever.

After the funeral is over the Department of Social Services comes around. Their plan, in the absence of any other course of action, is to place the children in seperate foster homes. The community turns to the Elders of the Church for a decision. It becomes clear that unless Sarah takes it upon herself to become the children's Guardian, that they will be seperated and brought up outside of their faith. This poses quite a dilemma for Sarah, who is not Amish. She files a story with her paper and the response is overwhelming. Her editor is thrilled and wants more of the story.

Sarah, caught between a rock and a hard place, decides to take the children home to Oregon and a life wholly unfamiliar to them. Everything is new to these kids, who range in age from 6 to 16 years old. Sarah enrolls them in school, where they face predictable obstacles. And she keeps writing columns about the experience. As the kids adjust to their new lives, concessions are made concerning their religous beliefs, even as the children themselves begin to change.

With a "tear jerker" ending, in which everyone gets what they want, Sarah rediscovers her own spirituality, the children get the home they need and the people around them discover the joy and freedom that comes of diversity. But it is Sarah who learns the most valuable lesson of all - that sometimes things get lost for a reason. And that sometimes a loss can be a prelude to a larger gain.

"Plain Truth" with Mariska Hargitay and Alison Pill

This is "Law and Order" meets "The Waltons", on steroids. There are more false leads here than answers when Katie (Mariska Hargitay) plays a corporate attorney who is fast approaching 40 and wondering why she helps to vindicate Corporations. She wins and saves them great sums, but questions why. What happened to her idealism? So, Katie decides to take a break - but ends up with a murder trial instead.

And when her defendant turns out to be an 18 year old Amish girl(Alison Pill) accused of murdering her own new born child, the plot becomes magnetic. When she refuses to provide the answers that only she can provide to save herself, the race is on for the defense to find the truth.

At first this film seems to be just another re-make of "Witness" with Harrison Ford, but it is much more. It touches upon subjects of real sensitivity; such as religion, education and even our own subjectation to systems that may not be true to our own real values. There is always a price to be paid. Always a compromise with the truth.

As Katie learns, in a surprise twist ending, there is no real difference in the corporate will to survive than our own as individuals. In the end she is left wondering just why she took that time off to begin with?

Written and Directed seamlessly, this movie had me in my seat the entire time. I never hit pause. And that's rare. Just ask Sue! The Cinematography is wonderful, with panoramic views of the Amish countryside. Released in 2004, this is yet another one that seems to have slipped by me.