No.77 : Witness (1985)

Witness at the IMDb

Recently widowed Amish mother Rachel and her young son leave their isolated community to visit a relative. During a stop over in the big city her son, Samuel, witnesses the brutal murder of a man we later learn was police undercover operative. Detective John Book (Harrison Ford) interviews the boy and shows him mug shots without success, but an departmental conspiracy is uncovered when the boy spots a picture of the murderer in a police trophy cabinet.

Book quickly realises that the bad guy (Danny Glover), is responsible for some missing drug evidence and goes to his superior with the case. Unfortunately he’s dirty too, a point proven when Glover comes gunning for him. Now unable to trust anyone Book takes flight with the boy and his mother back to the Amish community. He plans to leave immediately but is hampered by a bullet wound inflicted by Glover that starts to get infected. Over a period of time he recovers but is warned by his partner not to return as it’s too hot for him in the city.

He gradually settles into the community and a touch of romance blossoms with Rachel. Things come to a head however, when a run in with a bunch of rednecks put him on the police radar and the bad guys come calling.

This film has a great cast and excellent director in the shape of Peter Weir. The script won the best screenplay Oscar and it enjoys a reasonably high score of 7.5/10 on the IMDb. I just didn’t enjoy it that much, sorry.

The first thing that put me off the film was the score, which admittedly is of its era, but it just sounded like a funky episode of ‘Miami Vice’ a lot of the time. When the bad guys appeared it went all doom laden, but jaunty when they were raising the barn. Setting the mood is one thing but so is hitting you over the head with a mallet.

The fish out of water scenario that saw Book enter the backwards world of the Amish also didn’t gel for me as he seemed to be getting along fine. Apart from a couple of sniffs in the beginning he was quickly embraced by the insular people and he didn’t seem to mind the lack of buttons at all. There were some lines that suggested he was unhappy with his city life that involved no wife and kids but I didn't get the impression that he was getting fulfilled here either - just as stony faced really.

The blossoming romance with the somewhat chubby Kelly McGillis was slightly better and he became a dirty Book when he got a look at her charms. The energy didn't really sparkle between the pair however, and I don’t think him hanging up his gun was ever really a consideration.

I was also less than impressed by the bad guys who were pretty thinly drawn. Danny Glover, who gives good value in the ‘Lethal Weapons’ films, is really bad but has nothing to work with . The corrupt Chief didn't ring true either and he certainly didn't come across as a bad ass murderer with $20 million of drug cash in his back pocket.

There are some things to like such as the insights into the Amish and a funny scene where some rednecks pick on the wrong carriage to harass, but overall it’s a pretty straight forward three act drama with precious little in the way of character development.


Best Bit : Kelly has a scrub down


‘W’ Score : 14/23

No.33 : Working Girl (1988)

Working Girl at the IMDb

‘Working Girl’ is an 1988 chick flick in which all men are sexist buffoons and the women are sassy and undervalued - or complete bitches. That said, it’s decent enough entertainment if you can stomach the girl power message.

Melanie Griffith plays a downtrodden secretary who despite having more smarts that the rest of the office combined, fails to rise above her station. After rebuffing a chance to progress with a strangely hairy and heterosexual Kevin Spacey, she finds a new job as Sigourney Weaver’s assistant. At first the new boss is nice enough but when our girl rakes through her personal papers she finds that a business idea she had is being passed off as Sigourney’s own. Luckily the boss breaks her leg and is out of action, so our girl masquerades as a high flyer and attempts to broker the deal herself.

She enlists a bumbling Harrison Ford to help out and, of course, falls in love with him. Unfortunately Harrison is Sigourney’s boyfriend, a reveal that is so obvious to call it a twist would be a disservice to twists, wrong foots and gimmicks. When Sigourney comes home she uncovers Melanie’s many duplicities and tries to get back both her man and deal. Things come to a head in a boardroom showdown, with the outcome rarely in question.

I quite liked this film but I’m sure most woman watching would love it and be shouting ‘Go girl’ at regular intervals. Her downtrodden position with a cheating husband gave her a great platform to spring from, but if she’s so smart how did she end up there in the first place? Her character was too whiny and sneaky for my liking and although she was set up as a brave chance taker, she came over as a reckless and conniving chancer.

Her massive 80s hair looked mental but when she wandered about in her suspenders it was less of an issue. Joan Cusack provided her usual support as the grating pal and Alec Baldwin started a long career of specialising in sleazebags. The big business man they were trying to impress was unbelievably affable towards all the scheming and I think Sigourney’s character was hard done to. Harrison Ford just doesn't do romantic and his ‘I love yous‘ were as emotional as flushing the toilet.

The message of forget the system steal your bosses ideas and man will clearly inspire some people but alas only to a career in jail or the morgue. The film was a decent distraction and a funny time capsule to the 1980s, but there were no laughs and one too many annoying women and inspirational speeches for my full enjoyment.

Best Bit : Melanie does the vacuuming

‘W’ Score : 14/23