Witness

Starring: Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Lukas Haas, Danny Glover, Viggo Mortensen (bit part)
Directed by: Peter Weir
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Romance
1985

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A young Amish boy is the only witness to a murder, and a police offier (Harrison Ford) is assigned to investigate and protect him. It soon becomes apparent that both are in grave danger, so they, along with the boy's mother (Kelly McGillis) flee into Amish country and hide from the killers.

Review:

Tim: This is a good, but somewhat odd movie. While it works extremely well on screen, the whole concept is a bit strange- an Amish boy witnesses a crime, and a cop has to flee from those who want him (and the boy) dead, by living as an Amish man. Now how could this possibly work? The film is part cop thriller, part fish-out-of-water, part discovery of new cultures. While this sounds crazy, the movie works on all cylinders, is believable, and entertaining.

A great deal of credit goes to Harrison Ford, who just does a terrific job holding the movie together. He never acts so brilliantly that you are just shocked and awed by him (although he comes close here), but he just goes out and gets the job done well. He is enjoyable to watch in almost any setting, and is certainly so here.

Kelly McGillis (whom has not had the career she should have) gives a powerful, mesmerizing performance. While she is best remembered for her role in Top Gun, she is far better here. It is a crime that she did not get an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress (even though Ford received one for Best Actor). While discussing the cast, look for Viggo Mortensen in his feature film debut in a bit part as one of the Amish men.

One of the most beautiful aspects of Witness is the dichotomy between the violence-ravaged big city, and the quiet, peaceful life of the Amish community. This is one of the most apparent and interesting aspects of the film.

A major flaw of the movie is that while the scenes in the Amish community are extraordinary, the big city scenes, and especially those involving police corruption, are not as impressive in comparison.

Witness is an odd film that defies logic to work well. It is also perhaps the greatest Amish movie of all time.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Client, The Fugitive, Regarding Henry, Patriot Games