I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

WHAT IS AMISH GRACE ABOUT?Tells the story of the 2006 massacre of Amish schoolchildren by a mentally unstable gunman, that religious community's subsequent forgiveness of the murderer, and their outreach to his widow.IS IT ANY GOOD? (GRADE: B)Despite its status as a Lifetime movie and criticisms that it takes artistic liberties with actual events, Amish Grace emerges as a poignant and inspiring little movie. Due largely to acting and screen writing that are far better than expected, the film transcends its made-for-TV cinematography, editing, and musical score.It's true, some of the peripheral characters aren't well-developed and come across as caricatures, but the lead performances by Kimberly Williams-Paisley (Father of the Bride), Matt Letscher (The Mask of Zorro), Tammy Blanchard (Bella), and Amy Sloan (The Day After Tomorrow) are all captivating, each giving wholly credible explorations of pain, loss, redemption, and healing. The screenplay intelligently makes a case for forgiveness, love, and faith without any trace of condescension or criticism. The paradox of the Amish shunning those who've left their faith while forgiving the greater sin of murder is brought up, but sadly left unexplored; still, this is a minor issue for a film this well-performed and moving.Historical fiction has always created characters who are composites of actual people in order to streamline the narrative. Films like Titanic and Glory have done this to memorable effect, but rarely has this been attempted with events that are so recent. One may question the choice to focus on a fictional couple rather than actual people whose stories are certainly inspiring. However, by having protagonists who struggle and doubt more than the almost superhuman real-life Amish seemed to, the filmmakers have given the audience someone to relate to. Amish Grace, therefore, should be taken as very good historical fiction, not as history itself, though it will hopefully motivate viewers to learn more about the actual events.IS IT OKAY FOR YOUR KIDS? Amish Grace was rated TV-PG. It tastefully addresses the true story of the massacre of Amish schoolchildren by a mentally unstable gunman. The shootings occur off-screen and though the characters see the bodies, the audience does not. Though it contains nothing offensive and is appropriate for families, the film is thematically intense as it deals with the emotional and spiritual aftermath of murder, so parents be aware and ready to discuss the story with mature children.ANY WORTHWHILE MESSAGES? Forgiveness doesn't mean condoning wrong actions or letting someone escape consequences, it means letting go of bitterness and hate. You can find peace in loving those who've wronged you.

This is a great movie. I borrowed it from our local library. I have been reading a lot of books lately on the Amish and am very interested in their lifestyle. This movie seemed to portray their lifestyle pretty accurately. I was particularly impressed with Matt Letscher's performance as an Amish husband and father and a "plain man". It was excellent and right on target! I had never seen him before or even knew who he was but I signed onto this website just so I could let him know how good his portrayal was. His grief and pain were so real I couldn't hold back the tears. I know Ms Paisley got top billing and was supposed to be the star of the movie, but her performance was not that great. She was so angry all the time. I think it is easier to show anger than to show the grief and inner turmoil that Mr. Letscher had to portray.I wish somehow this review will be read by him and he will know that his performance was appreciated.

**SPOILERS** On the morning of October 2, 2006 Charles Roberts, John Churchill, or Charlie the Milkman as he's known in the Bart Township Amish Community walked into the little West Nickel Mines school and gunned down ten Amish girls, between the ages of 6 and 13, five of whom later died! As if this wasn't shocking enough a bigger shock was yet to follow with the Amish Community as well as the victims family members showing up at Charlie's house and expressing forgiveness to his grieving wife Amy, Tammy Blanchard, and her dad Henry Taskey, Gary Graham, for what Charlie did!This set off shock waves all over the country in the Amish ways of not letting a tragedy of even this magnitude have hate take over both their hearts and souls towards the now deceased, who put a bullet in his brain, Carles Roberts! It was only Ida Gaber, Kimberly Williams-Smith, the mother of one of Charlie's victims her 13 year old daughter Mary Beth, Madison Davenport, who couldn't bring herself to forgive Charlie for what he did. It was Ida's steadfast hatred towards not only Charlie but his wife Amy, who was completely devastated by what her husband did, as well. That's until one of the survivors of Charlie's murder spree and Mary Beth's best friend Rebecca Knepp, Darcy Rose Byrnes, told both Ida and her husband Gideon, Matt Letscher, the last world that Mary Beth said just before a crazed and deranged Charlie Roberts blew her away with his shotgun! It was something that a true believing person in God's undeniable love and mercy, even for someone like Charlie, could have uttered and it turned Ida's life around.In a world filled with violence hatred and revenge the Amish have lived the kind of life that most of us could only envy. With strong family ties and deep religious beliefs crime even petty crime is almost unknown in the Amish Community in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County where the murders took place. The very fact that a horror like what happened at the West Nickel Mines School did take place put the Amish living there to the test in proving to the world that they practice what they preach in forgiving those who sin even if the sin involves the murder of their own innocent children! Ida who was about to leave the Amish Community as well as her husband Gideon and take her surviving daughter seven year old Kaite, Karley Scott Collins, along with her was blinded by the hatred and violence that the crazed milkman Charlie Roberts inflicted on her and her family. It was Mary Beth's last words on earth directed at Charlie, who was just about to gun her down, that opened Ida's eyes. It was then that Ida, like her husband Gideon always told her, saw that hatred only survives if it's nurtured by those who have it in their hearts and stays with them their entire lives. And forgiving those whom that hatred is directed upon is the best way to cure it and the suffering and misery that goes along with it!

I've never written a review before, but I feel compelled to with this movie. I live in Central PA, I've spent most of my life here, and I work in the media. I remember this tragedy very, very well. I didn't want to watch this movie, but I was visiting a house where it was on. The Amish way of life was very poorly portrayed, it's almost as though the filmmakers did no research. From the little things, Amish don't have curtains on their windows or decorative plates in their homes, to larger issues, no Amish person spoke on camera to the media, they had a spokesperson. They tried to make Ida more like a modern, non-Amish woman in her personality in order to make it easier for those of us outside the Amish lifestyle to understand her better. I know this is a Lifetime movie, but did they have to make her seem like a battered woman seeking help from an outside source to escape. Really?? I remember no mention of a sister being shunned, I can guarantee the media would have been all over her as someone who could go on camera, so I really believe that was a fictional element added to the story to add more conflict. The Amish community pulled together and wanted to handle this tragedy on their own, with no outside help. They never turned to the media, only sending statements through a spokesperson when the media wouldn't leave them alone. The group of grandfathers who went to Roberts' house never spoke to the media, nor would they! They asked people to stop sending money, but millions of dollars came in. Some was accepted to help build a ramp into the home of the one girl who was left in a vegetative state. The only help they asked for and accepted were rides to the hospitals (they were all too far away to take the horse and buggy) and the use of construction vehicles to tear down the original school in the early hours of the morning. There was no reporter who struck up a relationship like that with one of the mothers. The local media has a lot of respect for the Amish and their beliefs. While they were there to get the story, they kept their distance. They didn't do things like shoot Ida's husband straight on and follow him while saying "Do you think that's a father?" The Amish don't allow photos of themselves to be taken and as such, the local media knows how to shoot them (ie from behind or from a distance) in order to allow them some space. For those of you who think this was a correct portrayal of the Amish, just remember it was very skewed to make a more compelling movie, however, with this story nothing needed to be added or changed to tell a heartbreaking story. The authors of the book that the movie was based on publicly distanced themselves from this movie and donated all the money they were given to charity, not even they wanted anything to do with this. Unless you lost a child in a horrific way, none of us can truly understand what these families went through. But the Amish community is very different from those of us outside the community. Different in their beliefs and their lifestyles. By trying to make Ida more like us so that we understand what she's going through was an insult to what all these families went through and how they dealt with it. It's a good thing the Amish don't have televisions so they were spared any image from this movie. Oh, and not only was it poorly researched, but the writing and acting was terrible!