Half Wit

I'd long been curious about the movie Witness. Beyond the generally favorable things said of it, I've often heard it talked about as a textbook example of a well-crafted script. Almost literally, actually -- I've heard of film students being made to study this script as a blueprint for good screenwriting.

Having now seen the movie, I must say I don't really see what the fuss is about. It's not that Witness is a bad movie; it's just that I didn't really see anything exceptional here. As a blueprint for screenwriting, I'd offer it only to someone who wants to write a rather cliché screenplay. (But then, perhaps that's the point? To educate would-be screenwriters in what will be more likely to sell to a film studio?)

The one refreshing decision made in the storytelling is the decision to focus the plot around the Amish. It's a culture that most people don't really know that much about. It's seldom portrayed in fiction, and offers opportunities for scenes where the particulars haven't really been presented on film. But the generalities certainly have, and in all these other respects, Witness is a "fish out of water" story mixed with a "protector cop" story, the likes of which are all too familiar.

An Amish woman (Kelly McGillis) travels to with her young son (Lukas Haas) to visit family. While on a layover in "the big city," waiting at the train station, the boy happens to witness a brutal murder. In strides a tough but sensitive cop (Harrison Ford) who must coax a statement from the boy... and then ultimately protect him when it comes to light that this was no random murder he saw.

The first act is loaded up with culture shock moments for the little boy experiencing technology for the first time. Then the second act sees the three of them all on the run, escaping to the Amish community that the woman and son first came from to hide from the perpetrators. Now it's the cop who experiences culture shock, as the beginnings of a romance develop between he and the boy's mother.

Perhaps this is "Screenwriting 101" because you can predict nearly all the scenes of the film before they happen. A smart audience knows that somewhere in a story of this nature, there's going to be "a scene like this," "a scene like that," and so on. And the movie dutifully checks them all off as though from a list. On the one hand, there is a certain level on which this should be praised -- it's a movie that really leaves no stone unturned. On the other hand, there's something a bit lifeless and workmanlike about the way the story is put through its paces.

The acting is at least decent. Harrison Ford is playing a character pretty close to his usual type; it's a bit odd that he received an Oscar nomination for this. Then again, he does it well as usual, and this is the sort of thing people like to see him do. Kelly McGillis is stronger in her role, and I think she brings more of her character's conflict to the film than the script itself does.

Lukas Haas gives a solid performance for a child actor. Danny Glover appears as a villain; like so much about the film, he's a bit stereotypical, but gets the job done. And in a fun little link for film buffs and Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon enthusiasts, Viggo Mortensen appears briefly in his very first feature film role. He has only one line, and it's not even in English. (And German doesn't sound anything like Elvish.)

Again, I'll say that Witness was not a bad movie. Still, it's not a movie to bump to the top of your list, if you haven't seen it. I rate it a C+.