A disturbing view of a type of hate crime that probably doesn't get discussed simply because of the community it deals with, living their lives away from the modern world and limited interaction past kids in cars waving at Amish families in buggies out of amazement. In this case, young men are acting worse than children, tossing rocks at the Amish as they mind their business going by, discovering too late that a rock has struck and killed a newborn Amish infant.
The impatience of people in cars "inconvenienced" by being behind a buggy expresses further disrespect, and the result is a TV film based on a true incident that really forces the audience to look at the world around them and the severe injustices that result from harassment, something that this North Carolina community has accepted as normal behavior. Idealistic attorney Ken Olin is determined to prosecute, but the Amish family sticks to the theory of turning the other cheek, and it's going to take a lot of justice to prevail for Olin to get a conviction in a bigoted community.
Jill Eikenberry, Greg Henry, Nicholas Pryor, Ron Pearlman and Maureen Mueller (as the grieving parents) and Olivia Burnette as their older daughter give very good performances, aided by a screenplay that creates genuine conflict for Olin. There's also a nice cameo by stage and screen veteran Theodore Bikel that makes a major impact. This exposes the hypocrisy of so called civilized communities, truly making a point when Olin is confronted by a local politician and his wife whose faces totally change when they are asked how they'd feel if it was their child who was killed by "kids just acting out on a joyride". Once again society faces judgment for hatred against what they don't understand or respect, and there's only one verdict that can be considered just and affect change.
The impatience of people in cars "inconvenienced" by being behind a buggy expresses further disrespect, and the result is a TV film based on a true incident that really forces the audience to look at the world around them and the severe injustices that result from harassment, something that this North Carolina community has accepted as normal behavior. Idealistic attorney Ken Olin is determined to prosecute, but the Amish family sticks to the theory of turning the other cheek, and it's going to take a lot of justice to prevail for Olin to get a conviction in a bigoted community.
Jill Eikenberry, Greg Henry, Nicholas Pryor, Ron Pearlman and Maureen Mueller (as the grieving parents) and Olivia Burnette as their older daughter give very good performances, aided by a screenplay that creates genuine conflict for Olin. There's also a nice cameo by stage and screen veteran Theodore Bikel that makes a major impact. This exposes the hypocrisy of so called civilized communities, truly making a point when Olin is confronted by a local politician and his wife whose faces totally change when they are asked how they'd feel if it was their child who was killed by "kids just acting out on a joyride". Once again society faces judgment for hatred against what they don't understand or respect, and there's only one verdict that can be considered just and affect change.