A critically acclaimed, Academy-Award winning thriller drama film starring Harrison Ford sums up Witness, a movie with an interesting plotline. Harrison Ford gives a very impressive performance as police detective John Book.
The film follows Book, who is forced into hiding within the Amish community when a witness, a young Amish boy, Samuel, secretly witnesses the murder of another cop by a man named McFee (Danny Glover). Samuel’s widowed mother, Rachel (Kelly McGillis), wants to keep him safe and away from Book, but Book knows that only he can protect him. As Book begins to uncover the mystery, he is shot and wounded by McFee in a shootout, and, after realizing that his superior is also corrupt, is forced into hiding in the Amish community, where he and Rachel slowly become attracted to each other.
Ford is a very well-known actor, mainly for his roles as Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and a couple of other action/adventure movies that have made him a star. Outside of that arena, he does some very good, striking work as Book in Witness.
Witness marks the directorial debut of Australian director Peter Weir. Kelly McGillis and Danny Glover co-star. In addition, you can find future movie star Viggo Mortensen among the Amish crowds.
Witness was a different kind of thriller, played out in a more dramatic sort of way. It builds the tension all the way through, though I was disappointed by the climatic shootout. We have a romantic subplot, as usual, this time between Book and Rachel, who gradually become attracted to each other as the movie progresses. However, at the end, this is all cut short when Book, after the bad guys have been taken care of, must return back to the police force again.
Again, this is probably one of Ford’s better movies outside of his more recognizable action flicks. This does show us that he’s just as well suited in a drama as he is in his action stereotypes, and Weir did a good job in the director’s chair for his first major motion picture.
*** ½/5
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