This was certainly a different role for Harrison Ford. In 1985, he was known mostly for his work in action/adventure movies (in particular, of course, the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies.) Aside from that he had done mostly guest work in TV series. "Witness" - although it has some action scenes - is about as far removed from an action/adventure movie as you can get, and Ford pulled it off well. The movie is book-ended by a story about police corruption, as a young Amish boy (well played by Lukas Haas) witnesses the murder of an undercover police officer, and then identifies the killer as another cop. Ford's Det. John Book (an appropriately "simple" name) decides to root out the corruption, but then has to hide out in the boy's Amish community to protect both the boy and himself from the cops he's going after. A story about crooked cops is nothing really special, but the appeal of the movie is really this look at the inner workings of an Amish community.
This is rather slow-paced, and while that's usually a criticism, in this case it fits the Amish setting perfectly. Book - taken in by the boy's family - has trouble adjusting, but develops an affection for the community - and, of course, for the boy's mother Rachel (Kelly McGillis), although their relationship is kept platonic. Throughout the movie you get a real sense of the tightness of the close-knit Amish community through such depictions as the barn-raising for a newly married couple and the entire community rushing to Eli's farm when the bell rings. The movie makes good use of what I would call low-key humour. It's never laugh out loud funny, but there are simple scenes, like old Eli waking Book up with the words "4:30 - time for milking!" that you can't help but smile at. What I see as the inherent contradiction of Amish life is also shown here. They're a simple community, deliberately keeping everything simple to avoid any sense of pride, and yet by keeping themselves so simple they turn themselves into the centre of attention - a tourist trap for Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Strange, but not being Amish I'll comment no further on that.
The action returns to the movie in the last 20 minutes or so, as the crooked cops find Book and their final confrontation takes place on Eli's farm. Book finally has to leave their world to return to his own, but the fondness his host family has developed for him is shown at the end, when old Eli says to him as he drives away, "you be careful out there among them English." This isn't "exciting" for the most part, but it's a very pleasant and enjoyable movie to watch.
This is rather slow-paced, and while that's usually a criticism, in this case it fits the Amish setting perfectly. Book - taken in by the boy's family - has trouble adjusting, but develops an affection for the community - and, of course, for the boy's mother Rachel (Kelly McGillis), although their relationship is kept platonic. Throughout the movie you get a real sense of the tightness of the close-knit Amish community through such depictions as the barn-raising for a newly married couple and the entire community rushing to Eli's farm when the bell rings. The movie makes good use of what I would call low-key humour. It's never laugh out loud funny, but there are simple scenes, like old Eli waking Book up with the words "4:30 - time for milking!" that you can't help but smile at. What I see as the inherent contradiction of Amish life is also shown here. They're a simple community, deliberately keeping everything simple to avoid any sense of pride, and yet by keeping themselves so simple they turn themselves into the centre of attention - a tourist trap for Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Strange, but not being Amish I'll comment no further on that.
The action returns to the movie in the last 20 minutes or so, as the crooked cops find Book and their final confrontation takes place on Eli's farm. Book finally has to leave their world to return to his own, but the fondness his host family has developed for him is shown at the end, when old Eli says to him as he drives away, "you be careful out there among them English." This isn't "exciting" for the most part, but it's a very pleasant and enjoyable movie to watch.