Plain Truth DVD: Review By Mushy

Lifetime gives us an interesting whodunit all wrapped up inside an issue of women wanting to grow while also being a follower of the Amish faith. Sounds pretty interesting doesn't it? Plain Truth is the tale of two women. Katie(Alison Pill), who is on trial for the murder of a newborn baby, and Ellie(Mariska Hargitay), the lawyer who has taken Katie's case and must now defend her. This movie is fraught with all the typical scenes of uncovering the truth, courtroom moments and the main characters both growing a little bit through being around one another.

Lifetime makes good solid movies and Plain Truth is right up there with the others I have reviewed. It isn't the best movie I have ever seen, but I found myself interested, caught up in the lives of the characters and watching with a lot of eagerness as the story unfolded. I find the Amish people to be such an interesting group, such a proud example of human beings who believe in something and will stand up for it no matter the cost. While this plays directly into the story of Plain Truth, it also illuminates a lot about human nature. How we all seem like we are worlds apart when in fact we are all very similar.

Plain Truth is a solid piece of moviemaking with very interestingly drawn characters and situations.

A Look at Plain Truth with the Cast and Crew

A fairly standard featurette that has the usual actor speak about their parts, what they brought to it, why they made the decisions they made, etc. I wish there would have been a piece that would have exclusively examined the Amish lifestyle as it is something I find very interesting. This piece feels more like an electronic press kit then it does a featurette for a movie. I thought it was interesting hearing what these people had to say but I didn't come away from this "making of" with any knowledge that I didn't already have.

Additional Scene: Coroner's Report

A extra scene in which the two crime scene investigators talk about the coroner's report in Katie's case. We then see two Amish men talking about the case. One of them is Katie's stubborn father and it ends up being the typical scene we see in the movies where we wonder how a father can be so callous as far as his daughter is concerned. Not a bad scene, but it's obvious that it didn't add anything to the movie as there was already a bunch of similar scenes like this in there already.

Standard Version Presented in a Format Preserving the Aspect Ratio of its Original Television Exhibition. Full Screen format for this very crisply transferred movie. There isn't anything too special, no great use of color or moody tones. This movie seems like it was shot in a fairly standard way, and it that it felt comfortable having the story be the main focus and not the look of the film. I have to give Lifetime credit in this department as they seem to work with solid stories and don't feel the need to make things so amazingly visual that you lose anything. Story is king and I find this refreshing.

Dolby Digital sound. As this show was made for TV I am also thinking that this is why it sounds like a TV show. The sound is fairly standard, though it seems to be pretty stilted. Everything for this movie is almost too perfect. All the sound is as crisp as you might expect but there is almost no soul behind it. I was able to leave my set at a set volume although I did have to turn up the levels a bit higher then normal.

I don't think the packaging on this cover is going to really be reeling in the viewers. You have Mariska Hargitay in the forefront with Alison Pill in the background with a farm behind her. The back features more shots of Hargitay and Pill looking contemplative with a nice description of what this movie is about. Inside is a picture of the inside of a barn and another picture of Pill beside the chapter listings. All in all a solid packaging job but I think sometimes Lifetime movies look a little too typical. Everything is given such a weight and gravity that it's hard, for me at least, to really be able to get past how "wooden" the characters on the packaging seem.

Plain Truth is everything you've come to expect from Lifetime and a little bit more. There is an interesting ending that I am not going to talk about, because I find that when you mention something like that all people do is end up looking for clues to what is going to cause it when they should just be watching the movie. The performances in the movie were solid, the camerawork quite self assured and the pacing kept perfectly with the type of material that was being shown.

This is a decent, if not great, movie that raises many questions, looks at lots of issues and offers only some answers. Exactly what we have come to expect from Lifetime. Shows that are great for opening up many different discussions.