Every so often the culture clash is just too forced and overdone, and the story is too thin to warrant such a long runtime. Even so it has a lot going for with the photography and when the culture clash is more subdued it's very well done.

'Witness' does little to maintain the tension it builds so well in the beginning moments. The lingering threat of John's impending doom doesn't create nearly as much tension as being on the run should. John resists the Amish culture and they resist him, but it doesn't do much to shed any light on the characters. Rachel seems like she might be enchanted by life in the city, but that could also be her lust for John. In the end, it becomes a predictable shootout with nothing learned or gained.

A superior thriller. Harrison Ford at his best, and a very scary Danny Glover.

690

not enough quilts!

Predictable thriller with a silly ending. Most of the scenes in amish community feel just pointless.

A very original and emotionally moving thriller.

It's pretty much what I expected to be. Like all of Weir's post-70's output, he has the skill to do everything right but lacks the heart to do anything great. He even says in the interview on the DVD that he just wanted an "assignment". Everything about movie is crafted well (except the horribly dated Maurice Jarre score) but nothing stands out. It gets the jobs done and that's about it. Purely functional and formulaic. Kudos for not treating the Amish like a freak show, I guess.

Powerful, assured and full of beautiful imagery. It also gives a fantastic insight into a culture we know nothing about. Ford's performance is good, and is never mugging it up for the cameras. However, the middle of the film dragged a little bit to the point of me becoming fairly bored, and all of the drama, suspense and great cinematography created here are spoiled with what I would call a "safe" ending. Overall though, it was enjoyable.

I really, REALLY wish they'd focused more on the Amish characters, because what could have been an eye-opening and sensitive treatment of their lifestyle instead ends up being a vaguely respectable but merely passable Harrison Ford thriller.

Does nothing to help the stigma surrounding the amish.

It's a satisfactory movie, with a plot we've seen in other variations over the years. But Ford does have a commanding performance - maybe not hugely memorable. The movie is good nonetheless, but possibly overrated.