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Review of the Movie Redemption of Sarah Cain

posted 17 years ago by sjden
6 replies | jump to latest

For those of you who wanted to know. Yes, this movie is based on Beverly Lewis's book.

I saw a premiere of the movie in July. Although the plot deviates from Beverly Lewis's original plot somewhat, this is a movie worth watching. The acting is believable, the cinematography beautiful, and the story enjoyable. The actors do a good job of portraying the Amish way of life in contrast to contemporary American life and the difficulty citizens of both cultures would have in switching places.

Families can watch this film together without fear of sexual or violent content. The only problems I found were a sideways glance at a newswoman's chest in a low-cut dress near the beginning of the movie and this same woman's obvious attempts to use her beauty to gain favor with her boss. Also, there is a brief episode of teen smoking.

The film presents a good opportunity for parents, teens, and children to discuss some important life issues, such as having the courage to stand up for one's beliefs when under pressure.

Other than the problems I mentioned, this film is one I believe all families will enjoy. I recommend it highly. I think it will be shown on the Lifetime network on August 19th at 8:00, but check your local listings to be sure.

[–] bunchesoffun 17 years ago

As a "stand alone" it's okay. But the only thing left from Beverly Lewis' book is the name of the character and the basic plot that her sister dies and the children have no other relatives. After that it's a pretty different story than as written.

Knowing families who joined the Amish from the outside and had children born to them afterwards, I can say that I found the accents hard to take. That's because with two English speaking parents in the house the children most likely would not have such strong "deitsch" accents. The born Amish adults I know don't even have that strong of an accent. The children would be totally bilingual, probably with English as their first language.

[–] m_stivers 17 years ago

I agree I was very disappointed in this movie. It was nothing like the book and I really didn't care for it. I did however, throughly enjoy the children who protrayed the Amish children they were great!

And as far as I could tell the father was Amish and the mother was not, so perhaps that's why the accents were heavier then you thought they should have been.

[–] bunchesoffun 17 years ago

No the father was supposed to have been English too. At least according to the book. And the name Cottrell is definitely not an Amish name.

I don't think the producers realized that the majority of people to watch this are either Beverly Lewis fans, or people interested in the Amish way of life. Either way we'd much rather have seen Sarah deal with her perception of the Amish world, rather than the fish out of water story they made with the kids in public school.

[–] weepups2-1 17 years ago

the movie was okay. Very predictable. Did not read the book to compare. Can see why it went to TV Lifetime in particular instead of the theater.

[–] owens1299 17 years ago

Having read everyone of Beverly Lewis's books... this movie sucks... first the aunt isn't a journalist... she is a real estate broker in the book... they don't move back to OR... they stay in the Amish community... etc... I am going to write Beverly Lewis to let her know how said I was that "Hollywood" messed with such a great book... and btw... I have known Amish from IN to here in PA... and some family would of taken them ALL in unlike what the movie said...

So, don't waste your time in watching this... instead go get her books and read them... they are awesome...

[–] bumpygrimes 17 years ago

Beverly Lewis approved the script and actually loved the film adaptation.