Witness (1985) (R)
Directed by Peter Weir
Starring: Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Alexander Godunov, Lukas Haas
Daddy Says:
I loved this movie when it came out in 1985. It was one of the first movies I actually purchased to watch at home on these things called VHS video tapes (Google them if you have no idea what I'm talking about, kids). I thought my daughter might like to see it, and since I hadn't seen the movie in at least twenty years, I thought it might be nice to revisit it and see if it stands up today.
Witness is the story of an Amish family. The mother (Kelly McGillis) has recently lost her husband (the film begins with his wake). She and her son (Lukas Haas) are travelling to the big city to visit her sister. The boy, while using the bathroom, becomes a witness to a homicide; the one murderer we get a good look at is played by Danny Glover in an early film performance. The homicide detective assigned to the case, John Book (Harrison Ford), needs the boy to identify the murderer, but when things start to go badly, he is forced to take the family back to Amish country to hide them and ends up hiding out there himself. From there, the film becomes a combination of murder mystery and fish-out-of-water comedy as Book tries to blend in in a community he knows nothing about. Deep emotions form between Book and the mother, but being from two different worlds, will they be able to stay together or is their relationship doomed from the start? And what of the villains looking to eliminate the witness to their crime?
As I stated before, I loved this movie, and still do to this day. I think it holds up remarkably well, giving us a peek into a culture most of us are unfamiliar with, and to some extent actually glamorizing it. Yes, the Amish lack things like cell phones, color TVs, and fancy cars, but the movie manages to make that all seem like a good thing; a much simpler life without all the headaches the modern world brings. Of course, if I were Amish, the chances of you reading this review right now would be about zero. I wonder if the Amish are aware of the Internet? Guess I'll have to Google it to find out.
Rating for Witness: ****3/4.
Directed by Peter Weir
Starring: Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Alexander Godunov, Lukas Haas
Daddy Says:
I loved this movie when it came out in 1985. It was one of the first movies I actually purchased to watch at home on these things called VHS video tapes (Google them if you have no idea what I'm talking about, kids). I thought my daughter might like to see it, and since I hadn't seen the movie in at least twenty years, I thought it might be nice to revisit it and see if it stands up today.
Witness is the story of an Amish family. The mother (Kelly McGillis) has recently lost her husband (the film begins with his wake). She and her son (Lukas Haas) are travelling to the big city to visit her sister. The boy, while using the bathroom, becomes a witness to a homicide; the one murderer we get a good look at is played by Danny Glover in an early film performance. The homicide detective assigned to the case, John Book (Harrison Ford), needs the boy to identify the murderer, but when things start to go badly, he is forced to take the family back to Amish country to hide them and ends up hiding out there himself. From there, the film becomes a combination of murder mystery and fish-out-of-water comedy as Book tries to blend in in a community he knows nothing about. Deep emotions form between Book and the mother, but being from two different worlds, will they be able to stay together or is their relationship doomed from the start? And what of the villains looking to eliminate the witness to their crime?
As I stated before, I loved this movie, and still do to this day. I think it holds up remarkably well, giving us a peek into a culture most of us are unfamiliar with, and to some extent actually glamorizing it. Yes, the Amish lack things like cell phones, color TVs, and fancy cars, but the movie manages to make that all seem like a good thing; a much simpler life without all the headaches the modern world brings. Of course, if I were Amish, the chances of you reading this review right now would be about zero. I wonder if the Amish are aware of the Internet? Guess I'll have to Google it to find out.
Rating for Witness: ****3/4.
Daughter Says:
Once again I must disagree with Dad on this one. It was a waste of my time and most likely a waste of his money. We could have been watching a movie that had a good point to its story line instead of a random love relationship that went absolutely nowhere.
I liked the story line in general, where a cop and the witness has to go into hiding. But the relationship between cop and mother was ridiculous. They so didn't need to put that part in there. I don't know what you would have put in the script instead but that was not needed at all. There was just one more thing I liked about this movie and that was Harrison Ford was in it. I love him in a lot of movies, but this was a disaster in the making.
The overall review of this movie, in my opinion, is it was awful. I hope to never see it again. But if you like pointless movies then you should watch it at your own risk.
Rating for Witness: *.
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