Witness (1985)

Brilliant and touching

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Take Harrison Ford out of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises and he still delivers the goods. In "Witness", his character Captain John Book, becomes aware of a conspiracy within the ranks of his own police force, and has to fend off his department chief to save a widowed Amish woman and her young son. The film explores the clash of cultures between the Amish and an outside world that often doesn't respect their religious beliefs or the simple way they live. To the picture's credit, the story line doesn't cop out with a feel good ending in which Ford's character and the Amish woman Rachel (Kelly McGillis), wind up as a couple running off together. Neither one, against all temptation, compromises their personal beliefs and morals to take advantage of the other. Though there was that one scene in which they exchanged a passionate moment that ended with a quick cut away leaving their relationship somewhat unresolved. Fair to say that you're not likely to see another film with as ironic an ending for one of the bad guys as you have here - death by corn.

Of the many movies I have reviewed on Amazon thus far, "Witness" is a strange one in that while it does contain some great scenes, it is (at its core) quite formulaic and very much a product of its times (i.e. doesn't hold up quite as well over time).For a basic plot summary, "Witness" is a story about a young Amish boy named Samuel (Lukas Haas), who witnesses a police officer murder another man in cold blood. Along with mother Rachel (Kelly McGillis), Samuel is put under the protective custody of Detective John Book (Harrison Ford), where they ultimately end up back in the Amish settlement.There are, indeed, quite a few great moments in this movie. The concept in and of itself is fascinated (a closer look at the Amish), and in this respect the acting of Harrison Ford is truly the stalwart quality of the entire film. Some of the best scenes, including the now-iconic "ice cream cone scene", involve Ford's character trying to fit in or adjust to the foreign (at least to his way of thinking) Amish society.The reason this film is no classic, though, is because it is very paint-by-numbers in many respects. It was as if the studio sat down and said "Harrison Ford is big right now and McGillis has the sex appeal factor...we need to make a movie to capitalize on these two things". While there is nothing wrong with that of thinking, per se, it is not the kind of creative thinking from which masterpieces are usually created. A ridiculously out-of-place McGillis nude scene is an example to prove my point.Overall, "Witness" is a decent flick that is too "stock" to ever sniff greatness. Enjoy Ford and the uniqueness of the Amish, but don't go looking for all that much more.

Although I suppose "Blade Runner" is the movie that showed Harrison Ford could do something outside of "Star Wars", I personally think "Witness" was one of the most important movies of his career, because it's a complete departure from a science fiction storyline, and therefore paved the way for all the Tom Clancy stuff and other movies that featured him as a romantic hero. Featuring a rich, startling performance from Ford and a powerful turn by Kelly McGillis (who had only appeared on "One Life to Live", a TV movie and the marvelous film "Rueben, Rueben" at that point in her career) "Witness" still manages to amaze with the suspense that Weir generates in the film.The contrast between the gritty urban police precinct and the bucolic Amish farm country is one of the best things about the film. Book dressed in a blue shirt and black trousers several inches too short for him, looking like the proverbial fish out of the water, is a sight to behold. All of a sudden he's back in the nineteenth century -- no electricity, no cars, no TV or computers. He might as well be on another planet. And the Amish are as different from him as space aliens; gentle, quiet pacifists, hardworking and industrious, intent on keeping the outside world as far from them as possible. They are neighborly and cooperative; the barn-raising scene is inspiring to watch. We feel sympathy for these quiet, decent people as the outside world keeps encroaching, and see them trying to navigate a horse and buggy on the Interstate. Book has to try to fit into this world, and he gives it his best shot. He joins in the barn-raising, does odd chores around the farm. But the Amish, while they respect his abilities, hold him at arm's length. For one thing, he's falling in love with the young widow Lapp, whose feeling for him is mutual. For another, his assimilation is only skin-deep; on a trip into town, when a group of local louts start pestering the Amish, Book chips in with a right to the lout's nose that leaves his face a bloody mess. It's going to prove his undoing; back in his precinct, the narcotics agent and the captain have gotten wind of his hideout, and now they come to shut him up once and for all, and silence Samuel as well. 'Witness' is not an action/adventure blockbuster like the movies that made Ford a household name, but it doesn't need pyrotechnics to stand out. It's a well-crafted, well-acted, eminently satisfying movie.Overall rating: 9 out of 10.

Eight-year-old Amish boy Samuel Lapp (Haas) is the sole witness to a homicide that took place in a train station restroom while he and his widowed mother Rachel (McGillis) are attempting to visit a relative in Baltimore. The two get caught up in the "English"'s laws and crime when the boy is pressured to testify. Detective John Book (Ford) realizes the danger the Lapps are in, and tries to keep them safe from the killers by hiding them back in Amish country. Ford is great at being controlling but gentle, and the action-packed thrills in Lancaster County makes for some unique intensity. Flaws include forced romance between the detective and distressed mother, while supporting characters are so underdeveloped that it feels like director Weir may have cut out an entire subplot, and Naas' character gradually becomes less and less important as the story progresses. Keep an eye out for Viggo Mortensen in his first role.**½ (out of four)