"Harrison Ford is John Book - A big city cop who knows too much. His only evidence: a small boy who's seen too much..."

Witness (1985): 6/10

Poster (c) Paramount Pictures

While in the midst of shooting the Indiana Jones series, Harrison Ford decided to make Witness, a slow thriller that basically just highlights how good the Amish are and how barbaric most others are. Back in 1985, in its initial release, it could be thought of as escapism entertainment and nothing more, and perhaps it’s just the excessive cynicism of the new millennium, but it really seems like Peter Weir is trying to tell us something here. If this movie was released for the first time nowadays, it would just be discarded as propaganda, as it basically is. Once you look past that, though, you’ll find Witness is basically another cop thriller, but with a twist to it that actually works.

Ford is Detective John Book, your average detective, and he’s called into a case where an Amish boy (Lukas Haas) witnesses a murder at a train station. To save his, and the boy’s, life, Book moves into the Amish country. He must adapt, obviously, and the movie shifts gears from a good detective story to a slow moving adaptation story. In fact, many times short scenes were inserted into the film that basically reminded us that there WAS a case going on here, it isn’t all just the farm.

One of the first scenes, the one in which the murder actually takes place, is very tense, all because of the music. Also, towards the end, there is another exciting scene, not because we don’t know what will happen, but because of the music. The music is the key to the movie. It sets the tone and makes the overlong middle more tolerable, and it very haunting throughout, adding a thin layer of suspense to much of the movie.

However, the main problem lies in the script. William Kelley and Earl W. Wallace’s script has so many one-dimensional characters and throw-away subplots, especially the main one about Book’s romance with Rachel (Kelly McGillis), which is about as thin as Lara Flynn Boyle after going on the Subway diet. Many secondary characters are barely talked about and yet come into play later. One thing I didn’t understand is how come everyone seemed to use such strong accents yet they’ve been living in America for a long time.

Also, although I may not be the end-all, be-all of Amish knowledge, it seems like for people so strict in their rules, they broke them easily. They didn’t seem to object to riding in trains or cars, or even using technology. What they did have at their houses did seem rather advanced for these, for lack of a better word, primitive people. The middle of the movie seemed to drag on a bit; better editing could have been done.

Overall, if you are thinking about seeing Witness, see it for the music, which IS the movie.

Rated R for some language, violence, and brief nudity.

Review Date: December 13, 2003