This is a cozy mystery set in modern times in Sugarcreek, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, which is part of Amish country. It tells the story of a mysterious man and boy who show up without money in Sugarcreek. They are taken by three elderly Amish sisters who operate a rundown "Inn" that has few visitors.
Rachel Troyler (Sarah Lancaster) is a policewoman in the small Sugarcreek force. She is the niece of the three Amish sisters. Bertha Troyler (Kelly McGillis) is the one in charge. Anna Troyler (Marianna Alacchi) is somewhat developmentally disabled. Lydia (Annie Kitral) seems like an older sister. Their brother, Eli Troyler (Ken Strunk), is the Amishman who comes across Joe Matthews (Tom Everett Scott) and his son, Bobby (Thomas Kapanowski) when their truck has broken down and Joe's wallet has been stolen. He takes them to the Sugar Haus Inn run by the sisters. He begins to do odd jobs for them to pay for his and Bobby's keep.
Rachel is very suspicious of the unkempt looking stranger who is wearing sneakers that cost $300. She overhears a phone conversation in which Joe is talking to someone about not being guilty of something. She begins to search for information on him in her role with the police.
As the movie unfolds, we learn that Joe is a major league baseball player named Micah Matthias, and that his wife, Grace Hunter, who was an actress, had been murdered five months earlier. No one has been arrested for the murder, and Joe/Micah has been grudgingly cleared by the police. Bobby had been in the house at the time of the murder, was locked in a room for hours, and Joe/Micah has been traveling to try to avoid the tabloid papers and to protect Bobby. We also learn that Rachel's father had also been a policeman who was killed in a bank robbery years earlier. These crises have made both Joe and Rachel distrustful of people and relationships.
Rachel's sleuth work finally enables her to figure out who Joe is. And my oh my, their relationship begins to heat up. In the end, after Grace's killer makes several threats on Rachel's life, it all sorts out at the end. We also meet Joe's ne'er-do-well brother, Dylan (Geoffrey Hoffman), and his agent/manager, Chloe Styles (Katherine DeBoer).
This was rather fun to watch, though the "Amish" characters have little to do with the mystery. The three sisters make spiritual observations and provide light humor from time to time. Eli is a wise and friendly soul. The scenery is lovely and some humor is injected as Joe tries to adapt to Amish ways.
The larger Amish community is oddly missing when the Inn burns down; all the help comes from the "English." Except for the Troyler family, the Amish are pretty much invisible. Oddly, when Rachel and Joe go to First Mennonite Church in Sugarcreek on a Sunday morning, Bertha insists they take the horse and buggy. It's not clear how Joe recharges his oft-used cellphone on a farm that has no electricity. We never learn why Rachel's father, Frank, left the Amish to become a policeman. I did find the accents of the "Amish" more tolerable in this film than in "Love finds you in Charm."
The first two-thirds of the film are better than the last third, which gets quite hokey and more improbable.
Rachel Troyler (Sarah Lancaster) is a policewoman in the small Sugarcreek force. She is the niece of the three Amish sisters. Bertha Troyler (Kelly McGillis) is the one in charge. Anna Troyler (Marianna Alacchi) is somewhat developmentally disabled. Lydia (Annie Kitral) seems like an older sister. Their brother, Eli Troyler (Ken Strunk), is the Amishman who comes across Joe Matthews (Tom Everett Scott) and his son, Bobby (Thomas Kapanowski) when their truck has broken down and Joe's wallet has been stolen. He takes them to the Sugar Haus Inn run by the sisters. He begins to do odd jobs for them to pay for his and Bobby's keep.
Rachel is very suspicious of the unkempt looking stranger who is wearing sneakers that cost $300. She overhears a phone conversation in which Joe is talking to someone about not being guilty of something. She begins to search for information on him in her role with the police.
As the movie unfolds, we learn that Joe is a major league baseball player named Micah Matthias, and that his wife, Grace Hunter, who was an actress, had been murdered five months earlier. No one has been arrested for the murder, and Joe/Micah has been grudgingly cleared by the police. Bobby had been in the house at the time of the murder, was locked in a room for hours, and Joe/Micah has been traveling to try to avoid the tabloid papers and to protect Bobby. We also learn that Rachel's father had also been a policeman who was killed in a bank robbery years earlier. These crises have made both Joe and Rachel distrustful of people and relationships.
Rachel's sleuth work finally enables her to figure out who Joe is. And my oh my, their relationship begins to heat up. In the end, after Grace's killer makes several threats on Rachel's life, it all sorts out at the end. We also meet Joe's ne'er-do-well brother, Dylan (Geoffrey Hoffman), and his agent/manager, Chloe Styles (Katherine DeBoer).
This was rather fun to watch, though the "Amish" characters have little to do with the mystery. The three sisters make spiritual observations and provide light humor from time to time. Eli is a wise and friendly soul. The scenery is lovely and some humor is injected as Joe tries to adapt to Amish ways.
The larger Amish community is oddly missing when the Inn burns down; all the help comes from the "English." Except for the Troyler family, the Amish are pretty much invisible. Oddly, when Rachel and Joe go to First Mennonite Church in Sugarcreek on a Sunday morning, Bertha insists they take the horse and buggy. It's not clear how Joe recharges his oft-used cellphone on a farm that has no electricity. We never learn why Rachel's father, Frank, left the Amish to become a policeman. I did find the accents of the "Amish" more tolerable in this film than in "Love finds you in Charm."
The first two-thirds of the film are better than the last third, which gets quite hokey and more improbable.