Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
3.5/4
30 Years Old & Still Watchable
MovieMike - wrote on 01/10/2016
The real measure of a film should be how it stands the test of time. Of course you cannot apply this metric to a new or very recent film; but maybe another way to quantify this would be to judge how many times you would re-watch the film. It’s hard to believe ‘Witness’ is 30 years old, but it certainly still manages to evoke the same reactions and feelings as it did in 1985.
Rachel Lapp (played by Kelly McGillis) is a young Amish woman who has just lost her husband. After the funeral, she starts a journey with her son, Samuel (Lucas Haas), to visit a sister. At a train stop in Philadelphia, Samuel inadvertently witnesses the murder of a policeman. Harrison Ford appears as Detective John Book, who is assigned to the case. After Book is wounded by one of his own fellow detectives, …
Rating of
3/4
Great film, I would recommend it to anyone.
TheWolf - wrote on 12/24/2007
I've always been a fan of Harrison Ford's work, in Witness he plays John Book. Book is a good, honest Philadelphia cop who is forced to hide out on an Amish farm while pursuing some corrupt cops. In the midst of this culture clash, he finds himself increasingly attracted to young widow Rachel (Kelly McGillis) who's the mother of a juvenile murder witness (Lukas Haas).
This movie is a genuinely affecting combination of several themes - a cop movie, a forbidden romance, and an exploration of a very "plain" culture. It is serious and thoughtfully handled, and cast to perfection. Ford gives one of his very best performances, in fact. I really enjoyed the music score, too. The script isn't infallible, I did have some questions after watching some scenes. However, I still consider it to be …
