"Amish Abduction" paints an ambivalent picture of a small Amish community in rural Pennsylvania. On the one hand, there are the values of decency, tradition, and faith in God. On the other, there are the temptations of the "English" and the modern world that beckons outside.

The conflicting forces play on Jacob Baker, first leading him to the bottle, then to crime. After accidentally murdering the man who was selling him the booze, Jacob kidnaps his young son Caleb, taking him to Philadelphia, where an attorney friend will assist him in gaining custody of the boy.

But neither Jacob nor his attorney, Richard Johnson, had counted on the will of Annie Baker, the wife of Jacob and mother of Caleb. The film belongs to Annie, who visits Philadelphia with Jacob's brother Thomas, and wins the custody hearing. Of course, that doesn't stop Jacob from violating the decree, giving Thomas a beating, and later returning to the Amish community to try to impose his will on Annie.

A weakness of the film was the one-dimensional characterization of Jacob, who turns into a monster early in the film. The inherent evil in Jacob twisted the film into a melodrama, as opposed to a thoughtful religious and cultural exposé.

My favorite character was Thomas, who represented the genuine goodness of the Amish community. There was a touching moment in a Philadelphia restaurant, where Annie's fortune cookie reads, "If you never give up on love, then love will never give up on you." Of course, the chemistry is there for the romantic connection between Annie and her taciturn brother-in-law.

But the main focus is the stand taken by Annie for women's rights in the traditional Amish community. As she tells her father, "Unless you have walked in my shoes, do not judge me." Annie Baker is a strong woman and an abused wife, who never let go of her commitment to love and protect her child, even at the cost of being "shunned" by her community.

Whenever they make a movie about the Amish it's quite watchable. This week's if not quite wacko is an angry Amish man. His wife loses the baby she is carrying so he wants to go and leave to live with the English. He isn't totally without some reason but he also has a temper and is quite abusive alcoholic and worse. On TV at least Amish can be violent too!

There's an abduction of the child, custody fight and finally a pretty exciting violent fight. Because they are Amish the violence is much more scary. Sara Canning is watchable but doesn't talk like an Amish with the quaint vocabulary and accent. Steve Byers is good as the angry Amish man.

Worth a watch.

The sheer volume of goofs and misinformation in this movie makes it so bad that it's actually the most entertaining thing about it. It's ridiculously far fetched.

Amish couple, Jacob and Annie, live in an Amish town that seems to consist of two houses and a church. They live with their small son in what looks like a very small community by Amish standards. Jacob begins to lose all interest in the Amish lifestyle and voices his desire to go and 'live among the English', an idea that Annie rejects instantly over dinner. Jacob tells her he is sick of the same mundane life, sick of fixing barns and ploughing fields. He then catches sight of Samuel, a young man who likes to get drunk and buys whiskey from a townsman who has tried to increase his prices for said whiskey. Jacob goes with Samuel to confront the man - as you do - and a fight ensues. Jacob punches the man, he falls, hits his head and dies. Jacob hides the body by covering his face with leaves (yes he does) and runs away. Jacob then becomes more erratic and decides he'll run off to the big city, taking his son with him. The whole thing just gets more ridiculous from there. Annie travels to the city with Jacob's brother for what is probably the fastest a custody case has ever taken to get to court. Annie and the brother share a room, she dreams of leaving the hotel wearing a short skirt and seeing her son who no longer recognises her. There is sexual tension between Annie and the brother, it boils over to the point where she - shock horror - suggests he sleeps on the floor of her room! It's all a bit soap opera level melodramatic to say the least.

The custody case is resolved in record speed, Annie returns to the tiny village and Jacob follows to get his revenge. It's ridiculous to day the least, but also quite entertaining. The main problem I have with this movie is the fact that there looks to have been very little research into the Amish lifestyle and their communities. Annie wears an unties bonnet - Amish women wear tied bonnets. Annie wears a short red dress - something an Amish woman would never do. The village children wear modern coats with logos, not an Amish practice. Annie seems to dictate to the men in her life, unheard of in Amish life. Annie's professionally shaped eyebrows, running mascara and full face of make up, really?

The part where Annie orders a bunch of Amish elders around then tells her Dad that she is 'fighting back' for Amish women is laughable. There are plenty of really good movies that depict the Amish way of life - Witness, Amish Grace, An Amish Murder - but this isn't one of them. It's laughably entertaining, but too far fetched and frankly stupid.