An occasionally interesting documentary chronicling the lives of five different individuals who try to experience life in the "real world" once they are given the opportunity to abandon their Amish roots. While the film is definitely surprising and compelling in parts, it fails to achieve a balance between its people
involved, centering in on one more than the others (that being Faron), making the whole film feel sort of off-balanced from beginning to end. While it's definitely shocking to see how these individuals break away so fast, and in some cases, dangerously fast, the film makes it seem like their people's personal problems is what was their main downfall, when in reality, since most Amish kids don't have anything past a high school education, they, are essentially screwed from the start when it comes to hoping to fulfilling a successful lifestyle.
September 15, 2009
