Romancefest 2011: Witness

WITNESS is another one of those movies I’ve seen bits and pieces of over the years, but for some reason, I never got around to watching the whole thing. I always liked what I saw, the premise always fascinated me, and I’ve always liked Harrison Ford, who was probably the first movie star I really recognized thanks to Indiana Jones and Han Solo.

So, it was only a matter of time, and now I’m glad I’ve finally watched the whole thing. WITNESS is a great movie and has something for everyone. Like many great movies it mixes genres, switching easily from cop thriller to romance all while telling a fish out of water story and carefully observing the unique Amish culture. It’s funny, touching, suspenseful and insightful all at the same time.

Harrison Ford stars as a homicide detective investigating a murder that was witnessed by a small Amish boy (Lukas Haas). As Ford uncovers corruption in the police department and ends up in danger, he finds himself hiding out in the nearby Amish community with the boy’s recently widowed mother (Kelly McGillis). As Ford slowly begins to become integrated into the community, a mutual attraction begins to develop with McGillis.

So, this is pretty hot just based on the whole forbidden love thing – Ford’s drawn to McGillis because she’s everything his society is not, and McGillis is drawn to Ford because he’s an exciting and complex outsider. But, it’s not cheap, which makes it even hotter. This isn’t like a stolen roll in the hay or anything like that. This is a situation where the characters stare at each other with deep respect growing inside of them.

A key line in the movie is spoken by Ford after a particular night charged with sexual tension:

“If we made love last night, I would have had to stay. Or you would have had to leave.”

It’s true – in this relationship, giving in to desire means changing lives forever. As McGillis searches for words to respond and can’t quite find them, you realize how believable she really is. She doesn’t stick out, as Hollywood actresses sometimes do, and inhabits the role humbly.

The movie works because it is understated. Well, most of the time. Ford does get a couple good outbursts in, but for the most part a lot of the important stuff goes unspoken, nothing is hammered home more than it needs to be, and even the scenes dealing with the murder plot are kept short and sweet and don’t bog down the rest of the movie. The movie is not bogged down by unnecessary plot, and moves along at an easy pace, content to observe and let things sink in. It tricks you into wanting to move to Amish country, without laying anything on too thick.

The movie also has the guts to proceed to a logical conclusion. It ends the way it has to, and the last scene between Ford and the boy, sitting in the grass, says more than a million overwritten screenplays ever could.