Plain Truth (2004 TV Movie) User Reviews

Recommended Made-for-TV Movie

[Sonofamoviegeek · 7/10 · 12 September 2007]

Plain Truth is much better than the average made-for-TV Canadian production. For one thing, the sound track is intelligible. I can't count how many Canadian-made movies I've seen that have poor quality sound. Another distinction for a Canadian movie is the strong writing and plot line. This may be because the movie is adapted from a book. Perhaps the movie isn't as good as the book but adaptations are always difficult to put on the screen. As a made-for TV movie, I would class Plain Truth as above-average.

The acting and casting are also above-average with the exception of the pneumatic, ever-scowling Mariska Hargitay. How that sour face could ever gain confidence in a pious Amish community strains the viewer's credulity. Despite these obvious flaws, I still recommend Plain Truth, should it come your way.

Needs better cinematic style

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 11 June 2014]

Defense attorney Ellie Harrison (Mariska Hargitay) just got a big win but she's conflicted about getting a white collar criminal off the hook. On an Amish farm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a dead baby is found and unmarried Katie Fitch (Alison Pill) is arrested for killing the baby. Katie refuses to acknowledge her pregnancy no matter what. Ellie is pushed to defend by Katie's mother's cousin Leda who's been shunned. The judge orders that Katie could go home as long as Ellie is there as her guardian. Katie talks to her dead sister. Her father is exceedingly tough.

I really like Mariska Hargitay and Alison Pill. They are doing perfectly good work here. It's a Lifetime movie filmed in Nova Scotia. That's probably its main drawback. The production lacks a cinematic style. Paul Shapiro is a TV director and this looks like a slightly below average TV show. I think the movie could have done a lot more with the style.

As for the story, Ellie should be concerned with trying to get Katie off rather than worrying about the truth so much. Also the trial drags on for too long. It doesn't have enough drama. There is a shocking twist which would be so much more useful as part of the trial. It's not the most compelling TV movie.

It's easier to confess then to fight!

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 1 April 2010]

***Spoilers*** When it becomes evident that a newborn baby found dead floating in a nearby lake is that of Amish teenager Katie Ficth, Alison Pill, all hell breaks loose in the Lancaster County Amish community where Katie lives. It's just can't be that a member of the god fearing and law-abiding Amish could have committed such a dastardly and ungodly deed! Having sex out of marriage and killing one's own child at birth!

With defense attorney Ellie Harrison, Mariska Hargitay, taking on the case in Katie's behalf she soon realizes that her client is holding back some very vital evidence that if made available in her defense could very well clear her of the murder charge. Katie seems to feel more guilty in her thoughts not her actions, if any, in both her getting pregnant and the death of her baby, a boy, both which she emphatically denies.

With Katie facing both disgrace in the Amish Comunity as well as a 10 to 15 year sentence if convicted in her child's death she starts to crack under the pressure and slowly the awful truth comes out. That happens when Katie's disowned, by the man of the Fitch household father Aaron played by Jack Niklas, older brother Jacob, Alec McClure, shows up at the Fitch farm to lend support to his beleaguered kid sister.

***SPOILERS**** With guilt written all over his face it turns out that Jacob was the one responsible for Katie problems. Being kicked out of the Fitch household by his outraged dad Aaron for disobeying him and going to collage, to get his mind corrupted, Jacob invited Katie to spend some time with him in the big city. It's there where she got romantically involved, after getting drunk, with fellow collage student Adam Sinclair, Christopher Ralph. As it turned out it was Adam who put a drunk and unconscious Katie in the "family way" without her knowing him about it, by going abroad to study for his doctorate in far off Spain, until it was too late.

With her now going on trial for the murder of her newborn child Katie is steadfast not to defend her actions in her child death even if it means that she'll end up being found guilty and sent to prison. As it turns out Katie is far more distraught to having been found out to have had sex out of marriage with Adam then to that of the death of her own child!

***MAJOR SPOILER*** With all the jolts and surprises in the movie the ending is a real mind blower! It's then that a by now shell shocked, from what she went through in the trail, Ellie Harrison got the truth to who was responsible for Katie's baby's death for the person who committed it! That mind blowing revelation was something so unbelievable that it completely eclipsed everything else that happened up until then in the movie! And left Ellie in such a state of shock that she a top flight defense attorney, who's seen everything there is to see in crimes committed, was left totally speechless!

pretty disappointed.

[star_actor_03 · 21 January 2006]

Well, i read the book by Jodi Picoult, and it was amazing. I loved the way she addressed the problem, and developed the relationships, and characters. The movie was good, but compared to the book, it wasn't nearly as good. I was very disappointed that the relationship between Ellie and George was completely left out, it brought a new understanding of Katie's situation to Ellie. I think that Sarah did a marvelous job in the scene when she confesses to Ellie that she killed Katie's baby. She makes you loath her, which means she did a great job. If you liked the movie, go out and read the book, it is a million times better.

Interesting movie

[smithannasmith333 · 7/10 · 10 November 2013]

I liked the overall look of this film and also the work of the actors. Escpecially the main characters, Amish girl and her lawyer do a good job, I like the closeup shots of their eyes and faces, those are wonderful, to portray emotions and expressions in their eyes in such a way is really good. The problem of this movie is that it is trying to be a thriller and an psychological movie at the same time. It could have chosen one or the other, that would have made it more intense. I think a murder mystery thriller in the Amish environment would have been a mighty good idea. Or then full-time psychological drama, the clash of Amish world and regular Western world through personal drama of one person. At the moment this hoovering on the border of both genres makes the movie weaker. In spite of this, overall it was an interesting movie, and the actors did a really good job.

Not bad for a "Lifetime" film

[AngelHonesty · 7/10 · 7 September 2021]

Most lifetime films are lower budget, and some can be hard to sit and watch, but this one was entertaining. The mystery of what really happened keeps the audience captivated as the film slowly unravels. Its always nice to see a peek into the amish world, its something that's kept hidden and I think most people don't quite understand it because of how hidden it is. The biggest downfall to the film is the low budget filming , but the story and acting make up for it.

Adequate

[mark-4825 · 7/10 · 17 May 2010]

This film adequately portrays the kind of damage that can be done by religious cults where conformance and issues resulting from it trump all considerations for the feelings and even the lives of the people ensnared.

The courtroom scenes are laughably unrealistic (even more than normal for a TV movie).

The previous reviewer who indicates that Katie was drunk and/or unconscious when the baby was conceived was a bit confused. That was one of her original obvious lies. The baby was the product of a romantic relationship.

An interesting plot with a problematic script

[steiner-sam · 4/10 · 7 June 2021]

This is a TV movie set in 1990s Amish country, Pennsylvania, as well as Philadelphia in the modern age. It is based on Jodi Picoult's 2001 novel of the same name. It was actually filmed in Toronto and Nova Scotia, Canada.

Katie Fitch (Alison Pill) is an 18-year-old Amish girl who initially denies giving birth to a dead infant found near a pond on the family farm. It's determinied the baby was alive at birth, and Katie is charged with 1st degree murder. Katie's aunt Leda (Catherine Disher), a nurse who was formerly Amish, asks her high-priced lawyer friend, Ellie Harrison (Mariska Hargitay), to take the case.

Ellie, who is in the process of reevaluating her own career finally agrees to take the case. As a condition of Katie's bail, Ellie is required to live with Katie and her parents. Thus she meets Aaron Fitch (Jan Niklas) the very strict and rigid father, and Sarah Fitch (Kate Trotter), the very weepy mother. Along the way we learn that a younger sister, Hannah, died at age seven from drowning, and that an older brother, Jacob (Alec McClure) has left the Amish community to attend college. Jacob has been disowned by Aaron, but Sarah facilitated visits by Katie to Jacob in Harrisburg.

Ellie keeps pressing Katie for the truth and keeps getting changing stories. Ellie consults her psychiatrist friend and former lover, Cooper (Jonathan LaPaglia). He interviews Katie several times and Ellie considers a variety of defenses.

Finally the trial takes place, some dramatic revelations appear, and the case is resolved.

I liked this movie more the first time I saw it years ago. This time I kept seeing problems with the whole story line. What 18-year-old girl is going to be charged with First Decree Murder in the death of an infant in its first hours? It made the plot implausible from the beginning. This Amish district seemed to meet in a small church; I'm not aware of this in Pennsylvania Old Order Amish districts--they almost all meet in houses or barns. The way Katie's discipline was handled by the church was bizarre--the elders took a vote and the congregation was not involved at all. How Jacob got from grade 8 to college is not explained. Many of the questions asked by Ellie and the prosecutor would have been completely out of bounds in any trial.

This is one of the more negative portrayals of the Amish. A harsh father, family members who never really talk to each other, and when they do it's not the truth.

Nonetheless, it was an interesting plot with a problematic script.

Great movie

[slayerthorn · 10/10 · 22 December 2005]

It had you guessing the whole time. Had some really great actors to and I think it told a good lesson. If you like movies that keep twisting then this movie is one you'll want to see. It also showed how two different types of people can try to live in each others world. Truly an amazing movie. Also it has a valuable lesson in it. Plain Truth has anything but the plain truth in it. This movie keeps you guessing. A true mystery where things aren't exactly what they seem. Also a good movie for mothers and daughter to watch together because it also shows a strong bond between them. It shows a lot about family dynamics too and how family and culture can really shape someones life.

With so many changes, they have a nerve to say it was by Picoult!

[TheArgentWolf · 1/10 · 15 February 2006]

This might be a slightly biased review, but I have only watched half an hour of this movie, and I've had to turn it off in disgust. They might as well have called it an original movie, because they had nothing of Picoult's original novel in it, not even most of the characters names. For starters, the baby was found in a barn, not in a bunch of reeds, and Sarah and Leda are SISTERS, not cousins. Not to mention the Katie's surname is Fisher, and not Filch. I would understand if some names had to be changed to protect people, but these characters all came from Picoult's imagination. I am absolutely disgusted with their supposed 'interpretation'.

The only redeeming feature I could find in this film was the acting by Alison Pill. Looking at her face shape, she is exactly how I imagined Katie to look.

Fans of the book, I would not recommend you watching this movie. 1/10.

Wonderful

[getomified · 9/10 · 14 November 2005]

I first heard about Jodi Picoult (author of the book Plain Truth) from one of my teachers during a Values through Literature class. I decided to read Plain Truth after reading one of her other books. Then a buddy of mine bought me the movie. The movie and the book work really well together. I wish they would have used more from the book and made the movie longer, but i really really enjoyed it. I'd recommend that you read the book, then watch the movie. This way you know a lot more about the characters, and then get to see them. It's a great companion. Mariska Hargitay as always gives an incredibly convincing and extraordinary performance. I had never heard of Alison Pill, but was pleasantly surprised with her performance. The soundtrack is also amazing. A movie I would definitely recommend.

Make some research before shooting begins!

[dixietrixie · 3/10 · 23 July 2006]

We watched this movie because of Mariska Hagertay! The story seemed interesting and a different vehicle for Mrs. Hagertay. So we gave it a try (from beginning to end). But, though entertaining, some research could have been made about the Old Order Amish people & its history before coming out with this movie. The attorney (Mariska) stated during defense arguments, that there had NEVER been a murder within the Amish community EVER. That's not true! In Pennsylvania in March 1993, Ed Gingerish gruesomely killed his wife Katie (crime library). This is a must read for anyone wanting to learn a bit more about the Amish ways. In the movie, the young lady who's baby died, wears a white covering cap. Only married women wear white caps, single Amish girls wear black covering caps. Movies can be delightful fiction but when pretentiously coming out with statements, they should be researched.

Disappointed

[NJCHARMED1 · 4 October 2004]

I'd recommend reading the book before seeing this movie. I was extremely disappointed by the way the movie was portrayed. Aside from having some of the names & events changed, there was a lot missing. I would have preferred that this movie be made into a mini-series that encompassed the entire nature of the story. Specifically Ellie & Katie's relationship & how that came to develop throughout the story. By not reading the book 1st, the movie allows for one to be completely lost. I love Marishka Hargitay in L & O: SVU & she did a great job in this movie. I would have on the other hand found someone else to play the role of Katie other than Alison Pill. I believe too that she didn't do Jodi Picoult's work any justice. If I had to grade the movie it would be a D. I think even that's a little too kind...

Bad choice of a "Star"

[foundsomefun · 5/10 · 23 May 2009]

This movie goes to show that Mariska Hargitay is a one note song. She was just doing Law & Order SVU again. It was like the whole thing was tweaked to fit her acting... if that is what you want to call it.

It could have been a good movie if I could have gotten past the acting. The others in the movie were great. It was the other's acting and the plot twists that kept my attention. Just when you thought you had it figured out, as you rounded the corner to your final conclusion... nope it just wasn't so.

This is one movie that has good bones and in a remake would be great. Just keep it away from that "one note wonder" known as Mariska Hargitay... yuck.

Excellent acting, inferior film-making.

[wilson-pote · 10/10 · 21 July 2006]

COULD have been a fine film, but the slipshod script and corny manipulations made it annoying instead. Oh for intelligent dialogue and more plausible story clashes: Katie insists on telling the plain truth in court, and yet has had no compunction re lying to Ellie at every turn.

Easy on the eyes, this film is flakey on the brain and thus misses the heart. I am sure the author of the book felt sad to see what became of her sensitive story.

The cast did their admirable best, especially the main family as well as Hargitay and LaPaglia. Kate Trotter's subtle genius as the mother was the highlight of the film. These gifted actors surely deserved better than a director who seems to assume his viewers are plain stupid. Watchable, yes, but what a let-down!

weak, contrived, unconvincing

[Frank-80 · 1/10 · 5 March 2005]

I'm tempted to call this "Mariska trapped in a hunk of Swiss cheese" but this confused mess of a movie has a lot more holes than that. It's so weak and contrived that even the exceptional acting talents of Mariska Hargitay can't save it. Every time a plot twist was needed the accused simply told another lie and off we went in a new and contrived direction. The depiction of Amish life is cartoonish. One would think that the writers would know better than to have the accused calling her parents "mom and dad". And white buttons on shirts? There's a lot more but to delve any deeper might give away what little plot there is, so I'll simply recommend avoiding this film altogether.

Wonderful Movie

[mee_n_ky · 10/10 · 4 October 2004]

This movie was wonderful. It had you guessing the whole time and changing your mind about what happened. I felt so sorry for Katie she wanted to tell the truth so that her family would still accept her and she could stay in the community but then Ellie wanted her to stand up for herself so that she wouldn't go to prison. When you thought you knew what happened the story changed just enough to make you change your mind. Mariska Hargitay and Alison Pill are great actresses. I have always loved Hargitay's work and can't wait to view more of Pill's work. I hope everyone else takes the time to watch this movie. Hope to see more movies like this soon.

another listless movie of the week

[iowastate-1 · 2/10 · 17 April 2015]

This turned a boring book about the Amish into an even more insipid movie of the week but then on Lifetime we have learned from experience to not expect much from their movies and in this case that is just what we get.

A dull and predictable walk through the byways of an Amish baby murder.

special guest Mariska Hargitay is no more inspiring here than on her insipid Lack of Law and Order show but she is still the high lite of an other wise boring film.

the plot is a mess and the story line totally unbelievable however that is nothing unusual for Television movie of the week fare.

like most LF TVM it will show up from time to time as a late night or early morning movie and is at least better than watching an infomercial or the shopping channel

Outstanding film, story, cast and performances

[caa821 · 10/10 · 31 August 2006]

While watching this film, I glanced at comments previously made on this site. Although few in number, they had a wider range than for most films. I haven't read the book, but can understand how it contained information and interesting studies of relationships between characters in greater detail than the time available would allow in the movie. And there are always variances in opinions, but usually not this great. For example, based upon its ratings, I may be one of the few people in the country who has seen CSI very seldom, and I wasn't familiar with Mariska Hargitay. However, I may start ensuring I view it in the future. Her performance here was outstanding, and she is a completely attractive presence. I had never heard of Alison Pill, either, and her performance was equally well-done. (In looking-up her profile here, she is a real cutie - not entirely hidden in the film, but unavoidably dimmed by the nature of her character.

As with very good movies like this one, the supporting characters and cast performances were excellent, as was, of course, the story. The Amish represent a very culture to view, and having lived for many years in an area with Amish, I feel their society was represented fairly, respectfully and accurately. As others have mentioned, the plot does keep one guessing and yet each aspect is believable. In so many films where the story has a lot of twists and turns, either the story has contrivances needed to create them, and they sometimes detract, rather than enhance, the overall presentation. Neither was the case here. Not only an outstanding film, but one you look forward to seeing again, or perhaps buying a copy.

Plain Truth not a Plain Plot

[cmhughes-1 · 8/10 · 4 October 2004]

Wow. The movie ended about 20 minutes ago, and I have to say that it took me some time after to regain the ability to blink. While it was in some ways your typical made-for-TV film, it had twists and turns that one definitely does not expect, and just when you think you are headed in the right direction, your mind is spun out of control in the opposite way.

The fact that it is based about an 18 year old Amish girl is a key factor in this murder mystery. It seems in this family, everyone has a secret to tell, but no one is talking.

I've not read the book...but I think I know what I'm going to do the next time I'm at the library! This movie tale definitely made me want to delve deeper and see what from what was played out on screen to what that author actually wrote on paper.

Mariska F*ckin Rocks

[MariskaTwin · 10/10 · 11 October 2004]

Okay, I have to admit the only reason i turned my head to see the previews was because i heard "Mariska Hargitay" I have been Mariska's biggest fan since about a year ago. So I didn't really care about the movie. But once I watched it, it was awesome. I was like in love with it. It was cute, funny, and dramatic. And Mariska finally played a different character than Olivia Benson. I mean i have seen every episode of Law and Order SVU and i never saw her laugh or kiss. I love her even more. So she was fantastic. I was so proud of her. I think that movie should have been in theaters. That wouldve been cool. I think the story was really good, and Alison Pill did a great job playing the role she did. I am glad this movie was able to be watched by me, i have showed it to all my friends now. Lol. Thanks Bye.

Love Ya A Lot Mariska and congrats on getting married.

Hargitay & Pill Shine

[hupfons5 · 8/10 · 19 November 2006]

Excellent movie -- better than many bigger budget Hollywood feature films. You'll miss out on a good movie if you fall victim to the bias that made-for-TV productions aren't worth seeing.

The story and the acting are first-rate. It's not only well worth watching, but the DVD is one that you'll have no problem including in your video collection.

(SPOILER) Unexpected plot twists tied to the interplay between the Amish and modern-day cultures heighten the drama and character development.

Solid performances by the entire cast. Allison Pill and Mariska Hargitay prove that they can shine in demanding roles.