No Great Expectations
Following her mother's death Hannah Yoder (AJ Michalka - Salem Falls) has found her father relying on her more than ever to help raise her siblings. But at the same time she has her boyfriend, Samual (Jean-Luc Bilodeau), who she has been with since they were young, as he expects them to have a future together. But as part of the Amish community and having reached the age of 18 Hannah has the opportunity to go on Rumspringa and experience life outside of the community, in this case heading to Los Angeles with three friends. Despite feeling reluctant to leave her father to cope on his own her doubts about her future leads to her going. It is in L.A. that she not only meets and falls in love with Josh (Jesse McCartney) but she also ends up pregnant. When the time comes for her to return home Hannah decides she must in order to explain to her family properly, but explaining is much harder that she ever thought.
I am no expert in the ways of the Amish and all I have really learned has come from casual research every time I watch a movie based on some Amish characters but even with my limited knowledge I can see that "Expecting Amish" is not the most accurate of movies. But in truth "Expecting Amish" is not really about the Amish way of life and more of a romantic drama with a love triangle storyline with Hannah finding herself torn between her home life, the boy she has grown up with who she is expected to marry and then the boy she has actually fallen for and whose baby she is carrying.
The thing is that once you are able to push past that "Expecting Amish" is not an accurate movie and just enjoy this romantic drama it is okay in a light, made for TV manner. Okay so it won't win any awards or win over many hearts with its romance as it all a little cute and fanciful, but sometimes cute works and with a nice looking cast, lead by AJ Michalka, "Expecting Amish" is pleasant on the eyes. Plus whilst AJ Michalka is the star of the movie there is also Alyson Stoner who provides a nice layer of humour as Hannah's friend who really enjoys the freedom when they head to Los Angeles for Rumspringa.
What this all boils down to is that "Expecting Amish" is just a typically light, not overly accurate, made for TV romantic drama surrounding a naive young woman who has her eyes opened to another side of life and love leading to complications of the heart.
