DVD Review: The Confession

The Confession directed by Michael Landon, Jr.

Release Date: September 13, 2001

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Format: DVD, 88 minutes

Based On: The novel by Beverly Lewis

Starring: Katie LeClerc, Sherry Stringfield, Adrian Paul, Cameron Deane Stewart

About the Movie:

This is a sequel to the Hallmark Channel's hit movie, Beverly Lewis' The Shunning, and is based on the second novel of "The Heritage of Lancaster County" trilogy. Raised by an Amish family, Katie Lapp (Katie Leclerc, TV's "Switched at Birth") always felt the call of another life. Now, her quest to find her birth-mother, Laura Mayfield-Bennett(Sherry Stringfield, TV's "ER"), has drawn her into world of the "Englishers."Along the way, two very different men try to help her overcome a devious scheme to steal her rightful inheritance. Business-minded but kind-hearted Justin Wirth (Michael Rupnow) reaches out to discover Katie's hidden secrets, while her childhood companion Daniel Fisher (Cameron Deane Stewart) sacrifices his own happiness for her future. Katie's heart is divided between two worlds as love reveals the truth in the moving saga based on the hit novel from New York Times bestselling author Beverly Lewis.

My Review:

The Confession, directed by Michael Landon, Jr., continues Beverly Lewis' emotional story of Katie Lapp. It will make more sense if you have seen the first film, The Shunning. You need not have read the novel on which the film is based, though. In fact, you might enjoy the film more if you haven't done so. For, as in the first film, the script makes wholesale changes to the novel. For instance, Katie's Mennonite cousins are completely absent, while she instead has an eccentric roommate in New York with whom she waits tables. I won't detail all the changes, but the get go, I found them dizzying. Hubby, who has only seen the films, was not distracted as I was and seemed to enjoy the movie more.

Katie Leclerc does a great job playing Katie Lapp, making the cast change seemless. She looks enough like Danielle Panabaker that you forget it's not the same actress. By the same token, Shelly Stringfield is very good as Laura Mayfield-Bennett, and Adrian Paul is appropriately rotten as Mr. Bennett.

The movie is a completely different experience from the book. Depending on how you feel, this may be a good or a bad thing. At least it will make for more of a surprise if you already know the book!

Unlike the first film, Hickory Hollow has no time to charm you. The majority of the movie is set in the city. I did remember that I didn't approve of the changes with Katie's family and how her shunning was minimalized by the filmmakers. I guess they want to keep her parents on screen, but there was much of the internal drama with Katie's mother that went unexplored. Still, the film is limited based on the need to maintain continuity with the changes that had been made to the original film.

It was harder to find an emotional connection this time than in the previous film. While I cried a couple of times in the first movie, I shed no tears this time. To be sure,  I was a little more than rattled by all the creative changes. The secondary Hickory Hollow storylines from the novel lend a lot of emotional heft, and their removal deprives the film of needed depth. The scenes we do have with the Lapps are pretty much throwaway scenes. Still, a film has only so much time, so I understand the desire to focus on the Katie/birth mother thread.

Like any sequel, not as much time is spent getting to know the character. And that's a shame, because I like Katie so well. But, Leclerc does her justice, and the film does succeed at showing Katie's innocent heart and her confusion and crisis of identity. Though it doesn't end on cliffhanger (or does it?) It doesn't really offer any more closure than the first did. I guess you'll just have to wait for number three!

About Beverly Lewis:

 

Born in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, Beverly Lewis is the New York Times Best-Selling author of more than eighty books.  A keen interest in her mother's Plain heritage has inspired Lewis to write many Amish-related novels.  The first of these novels, The Shunning, has sold over million copies.  In 2007, Lewis was honored with a Christy Award for her novel The Brethren.

The Confession movie on the Web: 

*Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received the above DVD for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

 

DVD Review: Beverly Lewis' The Shunning

The Shunning directed by Michael Landon, Jr.
Release Date: September 13, 2001

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Format: DVD, 88 minutes
Based On: The novel by Beverly Lewis
First Seen On:  The Hallmark Channel 

Starring: Danielle Panabaker, Sandra Van Natta,

Bill Oberst, Jr., Sherry Stringfield 

About the Movie:

Katie Lapp (Danielle Panabaker) has always struggled with the rules that define her sheltered Amish community, but when a wealthy outsider (Sherry Stringfield, TV's "ER") begins asking questions about her family, Katie begins to wonder about her origins. What connection does this woman have to her life...and how will the unraveling secrets challenge Katie's faith?

My Review:

The Shunning, presented by the Hallmark Channel and directed by Michael Landon, Jr., tells Beverly Lewis' touching story of Katie Lapp.  If you have read The Shunning, you will notice that Chris Easterly's teleplay makes changes.  Some characters are missing and their roles have been merged into others'.  For example, although Katie has three brothers in the novel -- Elam, Eli, and Benjamin -- the movie gives her only Benjamin, who seems to have taken the place of her married brother Elam.  Additionally, Ella Mae Zook has been given the role of baby catcher, while Aunt Mattie is absent from the film.  I was a little saddened, too, that Katie's best friend Mary doesn't play a more significant role.  I would have loved to see more of their relationship on screen.

Along with these notable character changes, there are several differences in the timeline and in the way events unfold.  This makes the movie a different experience from the book.  However, I find that no matter how faithful a movie remains to the novel it is based upon, it always creates a separate product.  This is not a bad thing, but rather a result of  the differences between the two mediums.  Books can spend as much time as they like, but movies, due to time-constraints, need to pick and choose which scenes to include.  Furthermore, films are limited by what they cannot demonstrate.  It is difficult to show what a character is thinking, as internal monologues from the text cannot be illustrated by visuals.  By the same token, it is more difficult for a book to tell you what a place or person looks like.

The Shunning does a beautiful job of bringing the Lancaster County landscape and the people of Hickory Hollow to life  As the film opened, I felt I was intruding on a quiet, tucked away corner of the world, unspoiled by the complexities and corruption of the modern society.  And perhaps that's why the long black limousine appears in the first scene, and why the lady inside, Laura Mayfield-Bennett, seems to occupy more space in the film than in the book.  Her presence sharpens the contrasts between these two juxtaposed worlds.  I think this is why I was a little disoriented each time the film shifted its lens from Katie Lapp and the Plain people living in the pastoral landscape of Hickory Hollow to Mayfield-Bennett in an urban setting.

Danielle Panabaker does a marvelous job of capturing Katie's innocence, independence, imagination, curiosity, and fascination with things that sparkle.  She also is very easy to empathize with. [Warning! Spoilers ahead!]  The Shunning, like the book, succeeds in putting the Amish community's practice of Shunning under the spotlight without being harshly critical.  Both the love and the measured discipline from Katie's family and friends are shown.  We share Katie's frustration and we hurt for her.  And like Katie, we are even a little angered for a time.  However, our emotions settle and soften, and ultimately we ache not just for Katie, but for the family and the extended community.  This is not a simple situation with an easy resolution.  It is bittersweet.  We want the best for Katie: we want her to marry for love, and we want her to feel unashamed about who she is.  We wish she could remain with her family and friends without feeling like she has to lose herself in order to conform to the Old Ways.  We aren't sure how that can happen, though.  I would have liked to see the film take more time to explore questions about the extent to which man-made rules and the customs, rituals, and other trappings of religious practice represent God's will or demonstrate the faith of a believer.  I've heard talk of a sequel, so maybe this will be explored in the second film.

Overall, though the movie tells the story in a different way, it remains true to the character of Katie Lapp and the confusion she must deal with as she struggles to define herself and her faith.  I was moved to tears a couple of different times while watching Katie and her family respond to and adjust to the uncertainty surrounding them as their lives suddenly change course.

One thing is certain:  I really want to find out what Katie's ultimate decision will be! I guess I'll have to read the second book (and probably the third) or wait for the follow-up film to find out!

About Beverly Lewis:

 

Born in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, Beverly Lewis is the New York Times Best-Selling author of more than eighty books.  A keen interest in her mother's Plain heritage has inspired Lewis to write many Amish-related novels.  The first of these novels, The Shunning, has sold over million copies.  In 2007, Lewis was honored with a Christy Award for her novel The Brethren.

The Shunning movie on the Web: 

*Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received the above DVD for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."