A good movie, but very over rated

Rating: 6/10 (9 August 2004)

Here we have a seemingly picturesque nineteenth century village in rural Pennsylvania. But of course, things are not as they seem.

Possible spoilers after this point.
I won't comment on the "surprise ending" which was no surprise to me since I guessed it half-way through the movie. What I really want to know is why did these elders who founded the colony think living in a nineteenth century village would make the perfect utopia? What's wrong with electricity? Or modern clothes? Or indoor plumbing? Why use mid 19th century speech patterns? Do any of these things have any real intrinsic value in regards to a society? I don't think so.
I know the whole idea was a retreat to innocence. But I fail to see why living in a relatively primitive society would enhance innocence. Sure, you may have simplified your life on the surface, but in ANY society with two or more human beings, there WILL complications. Mankind can't exist in a state of pure innocence. It's simply human nature. And to delude yourself that living a Amish-like existence will heal all your wounds is very sad. You can't run from your pain. You deal with it. But these elders did no such thing. They ran from their problems and founded a doomed utoptia. And of course all utopias are doomed from the start. Of course I also realize that the use of the 19th century by the writers was simply to throw the viewer off for the "surprise" ending.

Now in regards to the love story, I felt this was tastefully and realistically done. Normally I don't like hollywood love stories because they are so trite..ie "Titantic", but not so here. There was also some decent suspense and the acting was good throughout. I rated this 6/10. It's worth a look, but wait 'till the DVD comes out.