IMDb plot summary: A young Amish boy is sole witness to a murder; policeman John Book goes into hiding in Amish country to protect him until the trial.
Directed by Peter Weir. Starring Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Josef Sommer, and Lukas Haas.
Witness is kind of a weird movie, in the sense that I remember being thoroughly engaged while watching it and yet now, just a few days later, I struggle to remember individual things I enjoyed. I do find 1980s Harrison Ford to be quite charming, and he is here as well, carrying a role that doesn't have *all* that much depth to it once you get past the fish-out-of-water trope. I was much more interested in our leading lady, but sadly we get barely a glimpse at all into her life and thoughts. The movie is most interesting when it looks at the contrast (and conflict) between the Amish philosophy of peace and nonviolence in comparison to the more aggressive instincts in Ford's character. They never quite dig deep enough to make this as compelling as I wanted; I really wanted an apology from him for the damage he wreaks on their farm in the final moments of the film. There are glimpses of a really fascinating action movie here, but it doesn't gel as much as I wish it would.
3 stars.
How it entered my Flickchart:
Witness > Beach Party
Witness < All's Faire in Love
Witness < Gone in 60 Seconds
Witness < Kind Hearts and Coronets
Witness > The Matador
Witness > Miracle on 34th Street (1943)
Witness < The Time Travelers' Wife
Witness > The Pursuit of Happyness
Witness > Laura
Witness > Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Witness > The Gold Rush
Witness < Five Graves to Cairo
Final spot: #1051 out of 2633.
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