Witness

I seem to reviewing a lot of Harrison Ford movies don't I?

Anyhow, this film, released way back in the mists of time, or 1985 to be precise, follows Ford as John Book, a detective trying to protect a witness to a murder, and to unravel the mystery behind who killed the murder victim. Only problem is that the murderers know that Book is on to them AND they're also policemen. So Books only option is to take the witness into protective custody amongst his own people. Well I say only problem, the thing is that witness I mentioned? He's a small Amish boy and that community among which Book must secrete the witness, the witnesses mother and himself? It's a strict Amish village deep in Pennsylvania.

This film moves slowly, as we see Book at first recover from wounds sustained in the escape from the city and then adjust to life among the Amish. He forms relationships with the people and works alongside them. The boys mother and Book also form a relationship, but don't follow through on it. That for me is a highlight of this film. you can really sense the chemistry between them. There's one scene where Book walks along a corridor and spies the mum, played by Kelly McGillis, showering. The look of longing and unrequited passion that passes then is powerful as hell. They can't get together, no matter how much they might wish to because of she would be cast out by her community. After a while the killers track Book down and a shootout occurs at the Amish run farm. In the end, the Amish men come together to protect Book and repel the murderers.

This film isn't a thriller that has an action set piece every 5 minutes, nor is it filled with excessive violence or sex. Is it's a slow, potboiler of a thriller and is all the better for it. The scenery of Pennsylvania is a beauty to behold and the portrayal of of the Amish is, to my understanding, fairly sensitive. This is not a movie for those with the attention span for Transformers perhaps but is definitely a movie that thrills and moves. It is almost equal parts thriller and love story. This movie isn't shown on tv often and can prove a bastard to track down on dvd, in fact I got my copy on VHS when browsing a chairty shop. This film is worth the effort once you have found it however.