![]() I couldn’t help but to listen even though I didn’t want to watch. I told them that I wanted to nap and I buried my head in some throw pillows and pretended to be asleep. I remember my parents telling me I could just cover my eyes when the scary scene started. At that point I decided that I wanted nothing to do with this movie at all. My Aunt was considerate enough to warn my parents that there was a scene that might be too scary for me. She had a big living room with a wrap-around couch which could seat a decent amount of family. It seemed like my Aunt was the only member of my extended family at the time to own a VCR so anytime a good movie came out, we had to view it at her house. The Amish brought a lot of tourism to our area and since my family lived in the city and only saw them when we drove to the country or the farmer’s market, we still found them to be somewhat mysterious. WITNESS was partially filmed in Lancaster County, PA and we lived in the city of Lancaster so everyone was excited to see it and to watch a movie that had to do with the Amish. It was such a big deal that my parents granted me a pass to watch my first R-rated movie. There’s no doubt that you have not seen Ford like this before, and it’s definitely worth seeing him in this gripping ’80s thriller.Even though I was probably only in kindergarten, I remember the movie WITNESS being a huge deal around the time it was released. However, it is in these more tranquil moments that Harrison Ford gets to show off his humanity, whether it is talking about guns with young Samuel or dancing to a car radio with Rachael. ![]() Then the last 20 minutes are that of a dynamic action film. When that moment comes, it becomes a breakneck thriller before quieting down once more in the Amish town. Peter Weir’s film has a rather interesting pacing for a thriller, starting out slowly, but we know it must be building up to some impending doom so I would reserve from calling it boring. When it’s all resolved he leaves the country peaceful once more, but not without some intense memories. Rachael Lapp soon finds herself enjoying his presence around their home since she is a widower and her father-in-law Eli reluctantly allows him to stay.īook learns how to milk a cow and helps in a barn raising, all the while building a rapport with Rachael, but others seem to be wary of the presence of such a man.Īs would be expected, we have our final showdown between Book and his pursuers who are a lot closer to home than he would ever expect. But as a former carpenter and a decent individual, Book is able to adapt rather well. His world of cops and guns seems to have no place in this farm community of peaceful people. Now the roles are shifted as he must wait it out building up his strength as his pursuers try and locate him. He gets shot and he must make a mad dash with Samuel and his mother to their quaint Amish home. ![]() You can see he finds their customs strange, and Book feels a trifle awkward being around them, but he does his job the best way he knows how, by confiding in his superiors and having his partner watch his back.Įverything blows up in his face. He’s not a bad man by any means, and he wants to wrap up the case quickly so he can let Samuel and his mother go as soon as possible. That’s when steady, straight-arrow cop John Book comes into the picture. And so, just like that, this little boy who never spent a day in the real world is a key witness to a murder investigation. That is, in fact, one of the major themes of Witness, the colliding of two worlds that are at odds.īut anyhow, when he ventures into the restroom to use the toilet, he unwittingly sees a violent murder committed and he is able to hide in the stalls, but he also gets a look at one of the perpetrators. Little Samuel has a pair of dark brown, wonderfully inquisitive eyes in which to take in this world that is so foreign to him. The film begins when a young Amish boy named Samuel gets to take his first adventure into the big city with his mother, as they head to see some relatives in Philadelphia. Ironically it is the plain, seemingly everyday cop, John Book that allows Ford to truly show off his acting chops like I have never seen him do before. They all are magnificently memorable action heroes. For Ford, his reputation hinges on a number of great characters from Han Solo, to Indiana Jones, to Rick Deckard. They make the perfect action adventure heroes but are not always respected as actors which is a shame. They both play the brash, bold, smart alec characters that we adore as audiences. I think of Harrison Ford much in the same way that I think of Paul Newman.
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