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Witness (1985)
20 Plays14 days ago
This week on the Everything Actioncast, Zach and Chris head to Amish country and discuss the 1985 Harrison Ford movie Witness, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Ford is John Book, a Philadelphia Detective Captain who is investigating the murder of an undercover cop in a bathroom in 30th Street Station. The only witness is Samuel Lapp, an 8-year-old Amish boy who reveals that the murderer is Lt. McFee (Danny Glover), who is part of a group of corrupt cops who stole valuable chemicals used to make Speed. With only his partner to trust, Book gets Samuel and his mother and recently widowed Rachel (Kelly McGillis) back to their home in Lancaster County, but a gunshot injures him, and he has to recover and lie low on the Lapp family farm. Zach and Chris discuss evil Danny Glover, death by corn, Harrison Ford acting like a creep watching Rachel give herself a sponge bath, Viggo Mortensen's first film role, and more.
You can rent or buy Witness on digital platforms like Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home. Next week, we're celebrating Valentine's Day with the original My Bloody Valentine from 1981.
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Transcript
Introduction to Everything Action Cast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the official podcast of EverythingAction.com.
00:00:18
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Everything Action Cast podcast of the week of February 3rd, 2025.
Celebrating 'Witness' 40th Anniversary
00:00:24
Speaker
I'm your I'm your co-host Chris. And this week we are heading to Amish country and talking about witness which is celebrating its fourth anniversary. It came out in ah February, 1985. And also Harrison Ford's gonna be hulking out next week in Captain America Brave New World, so it's also um a good time to talk about a Harrison Ford movie. And i think i think probably one of I think it's one of his like more highly regarded movies outside of like all the franchise stuff, like outside of Indiana Jones' Star Wars. I think a
Harrison Ford's Unique Role in 'Witness'
00:00:56
Speaker
lot of people consider this one of his best movies.
00:00:59
Speaker
Yeah, it's definitely a grounded like story and he really acts like this is another Harrison Ford. He's not trying to be like a superhero or a like pulp hero. So I think it's probably one of his favorite roles. I think you know he got like an award for this. Well, this, it's crazy. This is the only movie he's ever been nominated for an Oscar for. Crazy.
00:01:23
Speaker
Like yeah when you think about like an entirely gamut of Harrison Ford's career, like he's only gotten one Oscar nomination and it's for this. And it's unfortunate because, you know, like he, yeah, there's like a few typecast roles. If you have Harrison Ford, you want him to be a certain way. But like
Ford's Filmography Leading to 'Witness'
00:01:43
Speaker
this is the one where he is like a fish out of water. And it's not like he's relying on his smart. It's really him trying to figure it out.
00:01:54
Speaker
Uh, and, and it's not like it is, uh, like, uh, Tom Clancy ones where he did like clear and present danger. Yeah. It's like, this is completely like, mostly like, uh, like a cop drama. Yeah. I feel like this is the first time he played like a cop too. Cause he was like, he was like sold a couple, like he was in like force 10 from Navarro and like, um, That was like like a cameo. But I mean, his run into witness is insane. It was Empire Strikes Back, Rage of the Lost Ark, Blade Runner, Return of the Jedi, and Temple of Doom. Those were all the movies before with this. Whoa, I always thought that it was somewhere after. He did this and then he did all that. Yeah, he was trying to get away from the sci-fi, trying to be a grounded thriller.
00:02:49
Speaker
like Well, he did that more in the 90s than I think in the 80s. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I also thought witness was like way later, like in the 90s too, but smack in the middle of 85 is an interesting error of like everything.
00:03:03
Speaker
and so she was
Cast and Characters of 'Witness'
00:03:04
Speaker
especially when you think about everyone else in the movie too, like they were like in like a lot of bigger stuff like immediately after this, like Kelly McGillis was in Top Gun the year after this, Danny Glover was in ah Lethal Weapon two years ago after this, ah like Alexander Godinov, it was Carl and Die Hard like what, four years after this. Whoa, you know, Viggo Morrison's in this? Yeah, it's this this is his first movie ever and I think you he even have a line.
00:03:34
Speaker
I think you, I think you might say like, hello. I think he does. I think he has like a line in the cart where they're being hassled by, um, like townies. Just like, don't do it or something. I think it's like his one speaking role. I totally forgot he's in this. And then when I was watching it, I was like, that guy looks familiar. And then when you see like a closeup and you see him smile, I'm like, that's Viggo Morrison.
00:04:01
Speaker
but I think it's like what, like a year or two before vanishing point. um Um, I'm trying to think what next thing, what he was in like afterwards. Um, I think probably his biggest thing next step to this was like, like text changed out of three. Whoa. It's like a starring role. Cause I think he was, I think he was doing a lot of like side stuff. And then that was kind of good. Cause he was like one of the main guys in Motherface. So and ah be like one, two, three, four, five five movies later.
00:04:36
Speaker
Yeah, I think, I mean, I have not seen Tripwire, I have not seen, yeah, Frozen. And then, yeah, I don't remember him being young guns too, but background guy probably.
00:04:55
Speaker
Yeah, Vanishing Point was like 12 years later, so it was a while.
Amish Culture in 'Witness'
00:05:00
Speaker
I feel like i it's definitely a while before, like, Villagemore started, like, hitting it in, like, you know, big movies. but I think Crimson Tide for me, because he's got, like, a supporting role. Not American Yakuza. Yeah, I don't remember that one. You know, one day we'll probably look through some of these. ah Prophecy is weird, because he's, like, just sort of, like, there in the background. He shows up at the end.
00:05:25
Speaker
He's a heart in that one. And I think 10 years prior, he was just some dude building a barn. yep helping build I thought maybe, maybe there was a scene I forgot as a kid where like, maybe they, they like hug the villains or something. Like I know the Amish can't fight. So it's like, what can they do? And maybe he,
00:05:49
Speaker
they do like the whole like passive protesting where they just like get in front of a car or something. And it's like, oh, is that Viggo Mortensen? It's like, whoa, like let's make this guy a star. I want to be surprised like Vio Mortensen like went super method and just like lived like with like how much people for months. You know, if you told me just something like a fit roll like ah if you told me he just has carpenter skills, I think he does. It's one of those guys you you look at him, you're like, that guy knows how to like ride a horse and like carpenter Like, kind of just like, yeah, rugged shit. Well, Harrison Ford, like, was a carpenter. So that's like, when when that seemed like he's, like, building, like, repairing the birdhouse. Like, that's, he's actually using his, like, his carpenter drills. Like, you know, like, he actually knows how to do, like, all that stuff. He knows how to plane. Yeah, he's a planer.
00:06:39
Speaker
Well, let's, let let's jump back to the beginning. So, uh, so with this, we, so here's a four, according to the poster, Harrison Ford is John Book. But then John book is not the witness. Yeah. So, um, yeah, so you have Kelly McGillis, who is Rachel lap. And then baby Lucas has is, uh, her son Samuel and they're in Philly but after, after, uh, Rachel's husband dies. And then Samuel witnesses a murder in the bathroom.
00:07:15
Speaker
And so he is the witness, he's the sister witness or one of the two witnesses. You would figure on the poster to be like the boy and him, but really it's just like, um I'm judging by the Wikipedia poster. Yeah. There's a giant size ghosts of Harrison Ford. Yeah. And it looks like, I think we talked about it, um, first recording or, um, but like a lot of like a lot, there's all like omen stuff. Cause they just, they mean dressed as like an Amish boy.
00:07:44
Speaker
So there's a lot of scenes where Lucas Haas looks like Damien from The Omen. Yeah, which has only came out, what, 10 years prior to this? so Yeah, like late 70s. So so you're you're you're pretty much getting the, like hey, is this like a spooky movie if you just walked in on it? Or what's up? Because I also think a lot of people who don't live near the East Coast, like nowhere near PA, they don't know what an Amish person is.
00:08:13
Speaker
Like if you're in Florida, I don't think there's Amish people there. No, I think, I think there's a big, I think it's like Pennsylvania, like, like, you know, Lancaster. Right. they where the county is And then but I think there is, I think there is like somewhere in Florida, like Sarasota, maybe. I think there's like, really? Yeah. There's like, I've just a big Amish, like famous Amish, like restaurant down in Florida somewhere. Oh.
00:08:34
Speaker
and but i think those um But I think those are the two big concentrations of Amish people. I'm just thinking, like this is how some people were exposed before the internet. So like you watched Witness, and you're like, wow, Amish country. Interesting. Yeah, I think we're talking. it was It's this ah Amish paradise for Weird Ale and Kingpin, or the three main pop culture Amish things. Yeah. like for Up until like the 2000s, there was nothing else. Up until maybe 2012 is when they made those Let's gimmick your reality TV shows. Amish Mafia. They're Amish with guns. I kind of remember there was like a documentary of like people that. Yeah, there was there was like a Rum Springer documentary. Yeah, Rum Springer were like they were like, hey, do you still want to be Amish or not? Yep. That was like because it was a lot of like behind the scenes and then some people just straight up left. But um they said that like later on they ran back because it was like too much of them.
00:09:33
Speaker
Yeah, so i think I feel like that's the only thing that's not in this movie because no when there's no like teenagers that are going to rub Springer in this movie, but all the other aspects of of like Amish that you would like imagine are in this movie. there There is a lack of, like everyone's either a married couple,
Crime Thriller Elements in 'Witness'
00:09:48
Speaker
like older married couple, or kids. There's like a generation gap there.
00:09:55
Speaker
Because I never see the main character have friends, like not not um the boy. No. He just, he just like stays at home. Yeah. And, um, like there's his grandpa, but it's like, this movie has this weird thing where the Amish people have more culture than this. It's not just like go to work and then like trade in town, ah you know? And I think, uh, look, your cows and yeah, yeah. I mean, because when you watch this, there's a hard shift into like a romance at some point.
00:10:30
Speaker
Well, yeah, I think we've we were talking before, too, like, so it starts out as, you know, it's this gritty, like, crime thriller murder, where, like, there's this Philadelphia homicide detective trying to figure out. we Before we get into that, the murder is realistic sense. It's like, like a straight up, like, throat slit, and then it's like gurgling and blood. Like, it is yeah kind of surprising how violent that is compared to later on in the movie.
00:10:59
Speaker
I think the director, Peter Ware, like there's at one point he was like, oh yeah, I think I made that two violence. You had to tone that down. You didn't have to show that, because there's a guy that gets killed by corn. So like yes you know there's a vast difference in the climax in the beginning. It's also it's also wild it's that it's Danny Glover doing it, where you're so used to him being Murtaugh, the lovable veteran cop who's too old for that shit.
00:11:27
Speaker
like
00:11:29
Speaker
it's ah it's It's so weird, it's over weird too, because i like how how old do they make him in Lethal Weapon compared to this? It's only two years of apart. I think that's the the gimmick. They want to age him up, so they just dyed his hair slightly. Give him a mustache. Yeah, because I think like he's young again in Predator 2. He's like age appropriate, where I think that came out, what, a year after Lethal Weapon? I think that was but probably between the Lethal Weapons, I would guess, or maybe after 1 and 2. Because that was like 90, I think. Well, 2 was like 90, I think.
00:12:04
Speaker
Yeah, maybe the same year. i but Yeah, it might have been. It might have been like film like around that time. I mean, this was like introducing Danny Glover. Yeah, I don't like I can't think of anything he was in like really before the TV shows. Probably. Yeah. But yeah, it's a like Danny Glover could be a bad guy role, which he's not often like once once in a while he is and you appreciate it, but it is um It is a shift and the movie plays like a big part of that in the first act where it's like, who is this guy you find out? And then the movie just goes, forget it. Like, don't worry about it. Now everyone knows you got a witness. We're not even going to focus on Danny Glover for a while. Well, that's, i that's a weird like plotting part of ah this movie is they reveal everything in the beginning and there's really nothing else to reveal.
00:13:01
Speaker
Yeah, it they they reveal Danny glove that you know, is you know, it's Danny Glover, you know, he's a crap cop, you know, the captain or like the chief is corrupt and in on it. And then that's it. That's right. And then you know that they are, they stole a bunch of chemicals from a drug bust that is used to make speed.
00:13:23
Speaker
That gets rattled real quick, where I would have preferred to the pacing that be like found out later on, like more and more. And then the the police chief gets more and more suspicious. Yeah, I think it would have been ah maybe a little bit more interesting if Harrison Ford didn't know the chief was involved. Like, and he kept going back to him for like help while he was like hiding out in Amish country. And then the chief's like,
00:13:47
Speaker
Oh, man, we got him. We're like, that was the big reveal at the end of like, oh, the chief said not to. Oh, shit yeah. Yeah. And then it all makes sense, especially when like the chief basically had to um like get closer to like narrow down the location. So every day, every time they interact, it's like more clues. And it's like the slip up. But I get it. Harrison Ford just told the chief. And then that night it's like trying to take some skill up. Yeah. And it's just so eager. It's like, oh, man, you're really trying to You know, and and the crazy thing is like, Danny Glover waited in a bathroom to do this assassination the first time. How? And I think Danny Glover is the one like got pointed out, like he got witnessed. But the other guy didn't know the other guy, the yeah the guy who looks like Larry Zanka. Yeah, that guy, he could have just done it like he could have. He doesn't know.
00:14:46
Speaker
Well, I guess, I mean, maybe, yeah, maybe Harrison Ford is like, John book doesn't know that guy. Cause like, he's kind of like, he, he's aware of dangle. Everybody's he doesn't really like, no, like, oh shit, dangle lovers are a crap cop. He's just like, oh yeah, that dark hogs guy. I have to, I have to go look up his case history to figure out what he was doing. and No, it was like that later on, he looked it up, figured out who was leading that raid. It was Danny glove.
00:15:10
Speaker
Yeah, that's what he brings to the chief. That's it's still it's still like super early on in the movie. He feels the entire case, lays out the chief, the chief is in on it, so then they try to kill Harrison Ford. But then there's no other reveals for us in the movie. It's just
Character Dynamics in 'Witness'
00:15:23
Speaker
like Harrison Ford. It's like, will they find Harrison Ford in Amish country? That's the only like thing that's left in the movie. I'm also confused. There has to be like a real life protocol where, yeah, like your police station chief is corrupt. You can call like,
00:15:40
Speaker
It like, what is it? Like INF from another department and be like, yeah like the tri yeah yeah. And it's like, instead he hit out for like months. Well, I think his partner is like, should we call the FBI or something? And Harrison Ford's like, nah, nah, nah. I gotta, I gotta, I gotta prep this kid or they'll find, they'll find this kid and then we have no case. I mean, you can, you just like, you, you call someone else that who is outside of the circle, like, you know, all the FBI or something. Yeah.
00:16:08
Speaker
I also feel like don't call the Philly branch, call like another branch and then tell them. But I don't know, it might give them a tip. I wish they just explained it because it straight up makes it seem like Harrison Ford is just resting so that he can go in guns blazing later. So because the biggest part of the movie besides the romance is getting the car to work.
00:16:32
Speaker
Yeah. So is that like it's not like that's the only thing holding him back, you know, like the car battery, which I guess went dead when he crashed into a birdhouse. Well, like it's not like it went into a lake. It's not like the car battery was notoriously bad. His sister mentioned it or anything. Yeah, it's just your car battery fizzled and you need to, I don't know how he charged it in an Amish barn. It's not like Doc Brown's house, you know? It's like, how did he charge the battery that doesn't believe in electricity? Yeah, that, that, here's before it's magic, I guess. I don't know. Did he fly a kite, get struck by lightning? what I do also love, I love that he, he hit, like he has a wide open field and he hit the only birdhouse in the yard. Like he has, he could like, even though, I mean, Granny, he was passing out from loss of blood, but like,
00:17:26
Speaker
like how how big odds it was to hit that birdhouse but it's like the entire like wide open yard to like drive around in that should have been the second question as the grandpa got to him and just been like how did you manage to hit this there you had so much open road there's no fencing there there's no cars in the way but yeah the the criminal we yeah the criminal The plot just like goes so far into the background for like the whole middle movie. Like Danny Glover disappears for so long, you almost forget he's in the movie. I mean, when she was backing up in the end, you're like, Oh, right. Danny Glover is this movie. Yeah, I think he just filmed his scenes in like two days. I got to go. I got to go for this movie called Lethal Weapon. I got to read the script and I got to talk about her. Yeah. I got to watch Lethal Weapon 1 to see like how much of a difference in the two years.
00:18:25
Speaker
But ah yeah, I think they did that so we can just focus more on the Amish community. I think everyone's seen like cop thrillers at this point in 85. So going straight for like a community that is relatively unknown is like the bigger um
00:18:44
Speaker
is the bigger focus, which it is that they, they spend a lot of time on Harrison Ford, um, being the fish out of the water. learning the ways of the olership Yeah.
Romantic Subplot in 'Witness'
00:18:54
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, waking up, doing chores, um, giving glances to Kelly McGinnis, like all the time. Well, that's what we were talking about. Like, I don't know if that's an Amish thing, but like the, this movie kicks off with Kelly McGinnis, his husband is dead and he's like, like they're at the funeral.
00:19:13
Speaker
And then Carl from Die Hard at the funeral with like the husband's body on a table is basically like macking on her and like make his move to like, Hey, like, you know, we should get, like, I can replace your husband. Has he even spent time with, uh, Luca? Lucas? Luca's hot? Like Samuel? I don't, yeah I mean, they're all ah they're all like, you know, they all know each other, but.
00:19:41
Speaker
Yeah, but it's not like he's the like, I'll be your dad. Like he doesn't, he just goes straight for the mom. He doesn't win the kid over. He doesn't win the grandpa over. Well, the grandpa was like, he's like another like he's a good into him. He's a solid farmer. He's a good man. mike And ah he's like in a neighborhood because he he walks over to their house.
00:20:03
Speaker
Oh, everyone is in with like walking distance of each other because there's a bell at the farm that you can ring and if everyone around hears it and they come and they can like walk over and see what's going on.
00:20:18
Speaker
So all all the all the farms are within like within walking distance of each other. Yeah, but they can't hear like other things going on. Just the bell. Yeah. yeah But then soon they have run over when the car crashed.
00:20:34
Speaker
i don't yeah I don't know if that was like law like a birdhouse getting knocked over as well. I mean, they're all but other people's business because like um they're already spreading rumors about ah Rachel having John there. And then you're going to get shunned. Yeah. they like The elders, the elders and then even her father or her father-in-law was just like, oh, you know, I'll shun you. You have no family.
00:21:01
Speaker
I'll have to shut you off. like ah which it's just like you don't You don't acknowledge the person, you just like ignore them, and but they like still exist in that society. just You never acknowledge them. No, that's the thing. they they like A lot of um tribal communities do that where they just sort of ignore you and don't help you and then they kind of hope you go away on your own.
00:21:26
Speaker
yeah but but kelly Yeah, but Kelly Rachel is definitely like considering her husband's been dead for three days or something like she's like very flirty with John and then Harrison Ford is just like really like like oh yeah this Amish woman like and then we're talking about that seat the scene where Rachel's like give herself a sponge bath and Harris Ford just like stands there look like creepily looking at her and Yeah. And in other movies, if they didn't have the scene where he's on the bed, just sort of like thinking about hooking up with the Amish woman, you swear like they were gonna bang. Like that was the PG way of just, I mean, not when she just stares at him full frontal, no shame. Just like, Hey, what's up? It's like, you want this? And then he's just like, just still, then he's just like, no. But it's,
00:22:16
Speaker
Like I feel like you should they shoot that scene like normally you'd be like he would like accidentally see her like bathing herself He'd be like, oh, I'm sorry. And then she'd be like, oh, no, it's fine or something That's like then that's how they like. Yeah, I have sex or something. But then he just stands there. It's like i know Yeah, yeah Angry look to him that I'm like, okay, that's what like a killer does like right before he attacks. Mm-hmm it's also They also have a weird like dynamic in the scene where they're dancing to Sam Cooke in the barn. They want to kiss, but they know they can't. But hair support, he's seeing the lyrics, he's having fun, and then also you he'll be like get super tense, and then it starts singing again. You know what it is? When you're dancing to someone, don't say, I love you. like Even if it's in the lyrics, just try not to say that to like someone you blatantly have lusted over.
00:23:10
Speaker
Yeah. a l Oh, who's recently widowed. Like her husband's probably barely cold to the ground. I don't know those how much people could build like one heck of a coffin. Maybe. Maybe. Yeah. They could build a bar in the whole day. So um I mean, you know what it is to like with with the husband scene, you forget about that in a way that like she forgot about it. It's so fast how they move into this like connection to each other. Yeah.
00:23:39
Speaker
And like it's crazy. like If you saw this, yeah, I guess you would be concerned. Are you brief horny? What's going on here? OK. In a spam of maybe a month. I don't know. A month is generous. But let's just say that time frame. Her husband dies. Her kid witness is a murder. She has a terrible time in a Philly. The guy that's helping her had a gunshot wound. And you're dancing with him.
00:24:09
Speaker
Yeah. Ensuring like going from like intense stairs to just like, you know, playfully dancing. Was this before or after the, no, this is before the ah but bathing scene, I think. Yes. The bathing scene was the, the, the collimation of, of, of dancing and flirting and playing with the sun. Now it's like bath time.
00:24:35
Speaker
That is like just like books explanations like if he made love I would i'd have to stay or you'd have to leave. I guess only like he doesn't apologize just like yeah if we if we if we did it I would have to stay here. I mean yeah he's he likes the life he doesn't mind the peace because like us he's used to like Philadelphia crime constantly and like everything he's um like idolize and live up to as his like mentor and cop is like lies. You know, it kind of makes sense why.
Narrative and Themes in 'Witness'
00:25:09
Speaker
I mean, I can see that in this. But if you want to tell ah more about it, you could he could say like, you know, I everything I thought being a good cop was about like is is a lie because the guy that he like followed is like evil. So I could see him saying, fuck it, I'll just be an Amish person.
00:25:32
Speaker
is it Is it odd that Harrison Ford is a captain and he's still on the street, like doing like street work? Well, detective captain, it just means you're in charge of like more detectives. Yeah, I guess so. which is and just because he's the He was the lead investigator, I guess. But yeah, it is odd because he figured like his team would back him up. but he says to what says He says he's one partner who gets murdered off screen.
00:26:00
Speaker
It just like stopped showing up in the movie. Well, like because the chief is like calls him to his office and is like, man, can you imagine booking Amish country when they be wacky? Anyway, we got to murder you now. Yeah, it's a hard cut. It's not like um they find his body. It's not like. There's a um kind of like, oh, like somehow his body ends up in Amish country or or or like he passes by a newspaper. That's a classic a thing in a movie. You pass by the news. You see, like, oh, you got to get then see like a cop murdered. Second fully cop murdered. Like, yeah, mysterious like death in a bathroom.
00:26:54
Speaker
um That would have been a good like plot basic. you You kind of have the chief like sort of reassure him that it's fine. And then that happens. And the chief's like, oh, by the way, like we dropped the ball. Then, you know, there's a mind game behind it. But I don't mind the subversion because we know who did it, why they did it. um And it just plays out like it's a movie that you basically understand a lot of the sides. Oh, yeah. Yeah. The the the there's no there's no
00:27:25
Speaker
twists or turns with the a murder plot. that That's that's resolved for 20 minutes. it's there's Even the second murder but is just all right.
00:27:37
Speaker
but Yeah, he calls his partner's house and they're like, Oh, he's dead. He does. Well, I think they say he died, but they they don't say he was murdered. They're just like, Oh, he'd like Oh, he died in line of duty. But yeah, you don't say how where just that's it.
00:27:58
Speaker
And then they like you only they they can't find book because they call the like pet like the Pennsylvania Dutch country County chief and he's is like, well, they don't have phones, so I can't call anybody. And but and then the chief and gang are like, all right, I guess we're screwed then. and I guess they have to go to home to home.
00:28:22
Speaker
find some sort of records to figure out i don't how many laps are there. Yeah. i want i don't I don't know if that chief was even going to do that. I think he's just like, I'm not, I'm not doing that. I'm not calling every, I'm not going to every house. So he just had to wait. This is the way for like Harris Ford to make a mistake, which is punching out like a drunk County. So the drunk, the guy had to report that, that there was a fight and then that's what like did it.
00:28:49
Speaker
the to like it's yeah the tour it's like The tour guide guy reported the cops, and then then the cop was like, oh, this this is what those guys were looking at. The Philly cops were looking for, I guess, like an an unusual an unusual Amish guy that punched someone. and ah stay staying at the like he's staying and He's staying at the like Eli Lapp's house.
00:29:10
Speaker
ah So that's that that's how they finally are like, oh, now we know where he is. We can we can go get him.
00:29:17
Speaker
i feel like ah Harrison Ford, I know he lost his temper because I guess that's the same day you heard his partner is dead. so But yeah, he should have been like, oh crap, I gotta go. like I'm on a hunted list now. or um Oh man, what's the movie where he's running? He's a fugitive again. like for Imagine it's a fugitive, like heat they just there's no urgency.
00:29:47
Speaker
he thinks he like he just hunker He just hunkered down in like the wagon, thought no one saw him.
00:29:55
Speaker
I do I do love how ridiculous those like tourists are I don't know if you're like there's that the one guy when when they first when they ah first go to town and then like the women start to take care of support's pitcher he's like I'm gonna shove it up your ass if it hits you with me or whatever oh yeah there's like the one guy there's like the the main guy who's like telling everyone like like he has a Robert De Niro entry where he's just like yeah these the Amish the Amish don't let their pitches taken but you can do it just don't let them know you did it yeah I'm from New York. we ah we go and We take pictures of the army Amish. it's ah it's It's crazy to think that there are some people that will go on a tour just to invade but Amish like communities like that. I think it's died down over the years, but I don't know. like It just seems weird to me that that's ah something that people like
00:30:48
Speaker
paid money to do. Well, I think Rachel mentioned just like people just like go in their yard, just like stand in their yard, like ah it's like a zoo and just like watch them. Like it's like, look at look at the Amish. So goddamn rude. I get tour companies. I get like a bus stop. You get off the bus, go to the local store. Like, you know, that's fine. But you straight up went like there's no bus stop to that house, that dirt road. So you had to actively be like, I'm going to make this guy's property.
00:31:17
Speaker
This farm looks nice. I'm gonna take pictures of here. So rude. Yeah, this Shelby ice cream everyone's faces. Yeah, okay. So if they did that to the Amish community, like what's up with that? Like where's that guy's comeuppance later? I mean, yeah, they get punched, but how, is this their first time doing it? I feel like it's not.
00:31:43
Speaker
Was that was that was that the inspiration for the joke of the Simpsons were like Homer go sandwich country youre just like it's like messing with everybody It's like I can be a jerk and don't get stopped me There's a couple there's that one and there's also the family guy one. Mm-hmm. I don't know which one exactly But no that that gang of 80s like toughens. i don't i don't It's so weird. If you look at who's in that crowd, it's like your typical rednecks. You're a stupid guy with a dessert. ye um There's like an 80s chick with them that has the headband. She looks like Sarah Connor at the end of Terminator. You notice that? like it's that yeah like She's wearing a sweatband for no reason, like cut off shorts. but and why would Why would they be interested in going to Amish country?
00:32:32
Speaker
Yeah, that's like a group from California. How like why did a Californian group go to the P.A.? Like that specific like stereotype looks like something that would harass like skateboarders or like BMX bikers. Yeah. Why do they go to like Lancaster P.A.? Like I've been to Lancaster P.A. It's like it's nice. It's clean. It's humble. You got to wait in traffic, but Um, I never thought about harassing the locals like that.
00:33:09
Speaker
Yeah. they but well They probably had the homeroom thing of like, we can be jerks. No, we can stop us. we canop We can mess with whoever we want. I'm pretty sure the law still applies. Like you're okay. You do that too in their community. Like you go to their homes. Yeah, maybe you do that in main street. Like the cops are there. They're just like, yeah whatever. I don't want to do the paperwork.
00:33:33
Speaker
I mean, they'll they'll report it. they They reported the incident, but they. It's like, shouldn't that be like a thing in your town where, OK, now the Amish are here during the day, like. Patrol. Yeah. It seems like the town did not give a shit like it's weird. The town depends on the tourists to come see the Amish, but then they don't want to protect the Amish. Mm hmm.
00:34:03
Speaker
They get mad if they, like, rebel. It was like, I've never seen it all my years. I'm not much punchy guy in the face.
00:34:15
Speaker
Like, it seems like the whole town bullies Domish. It seems like it, yeah. Well, I guess there were and they was going they're just going to town and to, like, buy supplies at the store, I guess, is what they're doing, or they're selling I think it's like like generic farmer things. You still need to like do trade. They're selling their crops. Yeah. And then you know Harrison Ford is there to use the one pay phone in town, I guess. Yes. Because it's it's it's either that phone or there's like Mennonite sticks, like miles away that like you can go to. It's they like like they have ah they have a phone and a car. Yeah, Harrison Ford never bothers the Mennonites.
00:34:57
Speaker
like This movie's like, okay, we can only introduce one like culture at a time. Yeah, this that that' be that'd be too confusing if he had the two groups of homage. All right, let alone in the beginning when ah one Sam ah is describing who he witnessed, and he's just using Dutch, Pennsylvania Dutch words, and it's just like, this is going to get racist, isn't it?
00:35:25
Speaker
Well, what does he say? Like he wasn't a runt like like he calls murder. Yeah, he calls him like the runt and they'd explain it and it's just like, oh, oh no. He's big. He's a big guy like me. Big truck. Here's Ford.
00:35:42
Speaker
How tall is Harrison Ford? I think he's pretty tall.
00:35:50
Speaker
ah I mean, he i mean like there's that joke where he like is in like the husband's like clothes, but they like they're too short. like The legs are too short. Oh, wait. That was the husband's? I thought like they made him some clothes. Wow. No, Rich was like, here's my husband's clothes. Why don't you wear them? Oh, higher is a four to six foot one. Yeah. Interesting. um Yeah, I kind of miss that part. It's not really...
00:36:18
Speaker
Important that he wore the clothes, but it is bizarre that ah Like they couldn't find other clothes to give him Like like Eli doesn't have clothes that he can wear like and another third like outfit. Mm-hmm No, no where my dead husband's clothes. This is this is just perfect. This is we we took them off we We took him off his body. This is as close. He was very good.
00:36:46
Speaker
ah But yeah, there's a lot of like bits I thought there were more of. I thought there'd be more um like encounters with him, culture clashing, maybe arguing with like elders. There's like no tension. Everyone just sort of like accepts him to some degree, like they're tolerant of him in the beginning. But once he builds that barn, it's like there's no more conflict between anybody. Besides being the grandpa, but like he he's like, he can sense the sexual tension.
00:37:14
Speaker
Well, I mean, yeah, you think it'd be like way more with ah Carl, but like, yeah, because like, you know, he's Harrison Ford's the rifle to Carl for Rachel's affections. But yeah, they build a barnyard. He's like, oh, you're fine. You're good. Like, eat some chicken.
00:37:32
Speaker
Because like, you see, because you see, you see, you see like Alexander got an obvious, like, oh, I don't trust him. He's Carl. But he turns out, yeah, he turns really perfectly fine. And then, uh,
00:37:43
Speaker
And that then I guess Still is going to like try to like woo Rachel because like he like stops the car on the way when Harrison Ward's leaving. It's like they say something and then lead and they like he like keeps walking to the barn.
00:37:55
Speaker
so
00:38:01
Speaker
But we should probably get to the but finale when it jumps back into like crime thriller mode after all the Amish fish out of water stuff.
00:38:15
Speaker
Where so they, so it's, yeah, so danny Glover and the chief, they find out where Harrison Ford is because he punched the guy in the face. And then it's, I was reading an idea, like people, people think it's, it's sort of like an, like an homage, like kind of like similar to like high noon, where like, like book has to use his, cause he has, he doesn't have a gun or like his guns, like he can't get to his gun because they're like, they like busted with shotguns and he's like in the barn. So he, so he just like uses like wits to fight them.
Resolution and Final Showdown in 'Witness'
00:38:44
Speaker
which, ah as as you mentioned, involves ah killing Danny Glover's partner, who looks like Larry Zaka, in a corn silo, which I think this this has to be the only movie in history where like a guy gets killed by corn.
00:39:00
Speaker
I guess maybe that was like Troll 2. But it was popcorn, I think. The guy got killed by it. Well, he didn't die. He just was trying to make love on corn. Yeah.
00:39:12
Speaker
and then like He does. But the whole I think the whole thing like like explodes in popcorn or something like and then he's like yeah dead in the popcorn. I don't think he died.
00:39:23
Speaker
Oh, I don't know. I've seen children in a while, but it's it's only like a corn related thing I could think of. Literally like, okay, you want to get into it? Because I still remember, because it's so bizarre. It's a love making scene, like a PG-13 love making scene. Yeah. Yeah. They're eating corn together. With the witch. Yeah. turned it and then Which returned, like she's like, I'm younger now. She wasn't bad looking.
00:39:46
Speaker
button Oh, yeah, like the nerd and her eat corn and then the corn explodes and it's like a metaphor for sex. And then they're both like in a pile of corn, like popcorn and that's it. And then like we never see him again. And they cheat the witch shows up again. But it's like I think it's implied that they just had like a fling and that was it. It was like just. That like it's so random of a skit that doesn't connect to anything. Yeah.
00:40:13
Speaker
So it would have been funny in this version where in the corn, the guy doesn't die and then has to like smoosh his head back into it. Like he does a jump scare and then Harrison Ford goes, oh crap, and like has to like push him back down or something. Do you think is it the weight of the corn or was it like the vapors that were coming out like the like powder vapors? Yeah, they'll suffocate you. But the act of being buried in there is a ton.
00:40:41
Speaker
a ton of pressure that your lungs collapse and you'll suffocate that way. Like, cause you can't breathe. So you're, um So like even when you can breathe, like there's nine there's not enough room for your your chest to like expand. So essentially, like it's like being stuck in like quicksand or something like that. You don't drown from it. You actually drown you die from the compression. so yeah um It's so much that people looked up the corn thing. If you look at Wikipedia, there is a thing that underlines like the the suffocation by corn. And then there's like a whole like article about like falling into
00:41:18
Speaker
like debris that can like surround you like that. It's pretty interesting. um It's scary because it's like, you know, you don't think you're gonna do that, but if you're in a situation where like you're just, I don't know, in a bunch of particle bits, like don't get in it.
00:41:36
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I don't, I don't, I don't ball pit, you know, I know. Like if it it was like a flower, like it was a flower or something like, like flowers, like super flammable so that you could add like a big explosion. If that was like a flower silo. True. That that does happen. That happens at like processing plants. Um, I don't know. There are stories where people fall into vats of things like sugar, but they're like, they're fine sometimes.
00:42:02
Speaker
I mean, slightly, yes, almost like if it's a full silo of like, whatever, I mean, that's, yeah, that's like, if you fall in there, it's like quicksand, like you're just like getting stuck to the bottom of the silo, you're dead. just like
00:42:14
Speaker
But, but yeah, this is, but this is like empty and it's like, you see the pressure, like the weight of the corn and the corn vapors kill him.
00:42:27
Speaker
Oh, it's, it's grain. Grain engulfment is the official term. We get it. We get edit to defenestration terms. Just like, did you know there's a word for this and we should just do like a, um, a monthly vocab. Like you've seen it in movies. Do you know that's a thing? Like I saw them storyboards it. They have to point to that word. Grain entrapment or grain engulfment is when it becomes a submersion. Grain cannot get out.
00:42:57
Speaker
Yeah, man. Like, totallyji I looked at it, I was like, whoa. It's happened so much, they defined it. Yeah.
00:43:07
Speaker
You know what I mean? It's like death by being pied in the face. It's like it hasn't not happened yet. But when it does, someone's going to name it. Yeah, there'll be some sort of technical term for this technical term for everything. Just like, whatever the Latin word for pie is. And then it's just like, oh, like,
00:43:27
Speaker
Pie Morte. Oh, OK.
00:43:32
Speaker
Which and then that death kind of like dang leverage getting shot by shotgun kind of like it's like, oh, that's boring. but the other guy yeah Like horn. Yeah, it's like an exciting farming death farm related death. Right. And then Danny Glover just happens to run in right when Harrison Ford just has the gun cocked and ready. He gets to go get shot. Yeah.
00:43:56
Speaker
And that's like, that's like your main that's like the main, that's like your main, feel that's like the whole point of this movie is like the kind that you need to hide from or like the, like the seeing a witness as the murderer, you're just like, bam, you're dead. All right. I don't know. I feel like the cool one-liner have been like, witness this. Yes. Witness me. Witness me. ah You've been ambushed, ambushed, ambushed. Yep.
00:44:24
Speaker
Uh, take this for English, like, or, uh, God, what I'm trying to think, do they call him something else? Like, Oh, raise this barn, like something. It's like a line from like, gosh, paradise. Yeah. So, uh, that, that it's.
00:44:48
Speaker
It's fine because it's the right hand henchman and that's his conuppance, but I feel like he should have been cornered. Or some other clever farm thing, like stand with a pitchfork or I don't know, like trample the birdhouse. The birdhouse becomes like a plot point, maybe kill him on a sponge bath, maybe. Like the cows, like have like a stampede of cows that kill him.
00:45:16
Speaker
Or like that's more modern. And I don't think Amish people keep that many cows. There's quite a few in there. Like when you, cause it has to be like, like tells them to get, like kind of shoes them out of the barn. There's like at least like half a dozen them there. All right. Or like like John, John, John dang level, like milk, like if it's like milk and like jug or something to do that. It's just, yeah, some other like farm related kill to like really like lean into like the Amish like setting.
00:45:44
Speaker
You know what I'm waiting for now? Now that I'm like excited because it's like another thing. An Amish horror movie. There has to be. I mean, yeah, that's something I'm going to look up. If we saw Thanksgiving and that was like a sword of Pilgrim thing and the American holiday. Amish horror movie just because the the main heroes wouldn't have cell phones, they wouldn't have the tech, they wouldn't. All the shit around them would be basically, you know,
00:46:14
Speaker
farming equipment. Oh, yeah, that's right. So, uh, parental activity next to kin, that was, they went to an Amish like community.
00:46:23
Speaker
I think I see all that one. That was the one that came out, uh, like, it was like a Paramount plus exclusive. Oh, that explains that. Yeah, it's like the the documentary crew goes to like an Amish community, but then the Amish community is like, you know, doing weird shit. But Is parent activity one where it's like that, but I don't like that. They just like surveillance the cut, the people. Let's put a bunch of, ah of ghosts, catching like AV equipment. I guess the the like like Google says, like the village too, which I guess they're not really Amish. Like they're kind of like, I feel like their own kind of like religious group. They're not really like Amish, but similar. They're a cult. Once you find out that twist, but it's, um,
00:47:11
Speaker
It's something that I can see there's potential because it's like classic Americana ah like culture. Mm hmm. Because it's not exactly like a lot of Amish abroad. Oh, no. It's definitely a very like Amish enough like a very like American and also like American East Coast thing. Yeah, I didn't know how far because when you mentioned the Florida one, I was like, I can't believe they're in hot weather.
00:47:42
Speaker
Yeah, with their full like cotton clothing probably. Probably wool. Wool, yeah. Because they don't have, they don't believe. I always think we use Quakers and Amish people because they're not allowed to use blended material. And no no buttons either that we learned in this movie. But then, don't they have buttons? like don't people Some of the guys have buttons on their shirts later.
00:48:09
Speaker
I feel like they do cause like it because Rachel makes a big deal of like, oh yeah, we don't use but there's no buttons, we have hooks. I think the Mennonites use buttons. I don't think. Because butts are flashy. Yeah, so they hook their clothes. It's weird. ah That's why I'm like, I don't want to get too sucked down that wormhole because I'm confusing too many cultures. yeah Mennonites, Amish people, and Quakers.
00:48:36
Speaker
So Neo Quakers, not bad. It's still a little weird, but not bad.
00:48:44
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Speaking of like other subcultures, let's see witness to with like Neo Quakers. Do you think it's going to be like countryside and all that? Nope. They, they made businesses. They're like enterprising. I guess religious people, but.
00:49:02
Speaker
It's weird when you find out. Or source it tears it forward like in another, it's like, like lower, like another group, some other group that is... Scientologist. Oh, geez. This is a pro Scientologist movie. Like, so I heard that like a lot of people, they like this movie because it's an outside looking in movie that is somewhat respectful of the culture, is somewhat like to show you that, yeah, even though they're different, they're the same.
00:49:33
Speaker
Um, David Cronenberg was supposed to like, they was like asked to like direct this or something like that. And he was just like, he just doesn't like, uh, Amish people. If you read the Wikipedia, he's just straight up like, I'm not a fan of the Amish people. Good story, good acting, but I just don't want to, I want nothing to do with this movie. Yeah. Who did those movie Akira Kurosawa? It's one of the favorite movies of all time. Weird, right?
Cultural Impact of 'Witness'
00:50:02
Speaker
Because like, yeah, because like, the Japanese probably have the there's like, there's no option in Japan, like, they they would have no concept of what the element is. But I guess, I guess it's universal. It's just like, you know, but the idea, the idea of like, ah hiding out or like, non violence or whatever is universal.
00:50:21
Speaker
That's universal. I also think the terms of like how they reject technology is universal. it It's a very big thing, but like they never explain why. And then when they get into like how the consoles work, how like women are very like held back, and then how it's still like a male dominance society, and just like they're still stuck in certain ways. it's It's very hard to explain to another country that where it's like, oh, they do this by like you know they do this by choice. It's like, yeah, like, in fact, that like, you can go maybe 20 miles away from their house and there's just like a wah wah. It's not like they're on an island or something.
00:51:06
Speaker
And they definitely don't use guns because that's the whole that's not a huge point of this movie. So I thought that would come back into play where it's like the gun, because they make like a moment where the grandpa explains that guns are like meant for killing, like it's a tool, like you want to be better than this. Harrison Four is a straight up like whatever. Give me my gun. That's what I'm like. Give me my gun. But the thing is like, okay. But does, you know, what was the suffocation by grain count? Yeah.
00:51:37
Speaker
That's why I thought maybe everything would be more accidental or like it's on them. Like if Danny Glover like, I don't know, fell into the birdhouse and it killed him somehow. Like, you know, like it wouldn't be from the gun. It would be straight up from like God's choice or something. It feels like they were setting up that Samuel would get like, because he cause he goes back to like, he's supposed to like run away to the neighbor's house because back.
00:52:02
Speaker
It seems like they're setting up. Oh, he's going to get the gun because he knows who the gun is. And then like, is he going to, is he going to kill like Danny Glover because he, like like he saw him kill another guy. And they so he knows he's a bad man or something or like.
00:52:15
Speaker
Yeah, like try to use the, because Harrison Ford's like, fifty's like don't don't don't use a loaded gun. like you could but you It's not loaded, it's not lowered you can look at it, but like make sure it's not loaded. So watching that again, I kind of remember going like, that doesn't happen. like None of this carries over later, where like maybe Sam gives him the gun, but doesn't give him the bullets. Or maybe he gives him the bullets, but no gun. Or like maybe Sam unloads all the bullets and everyone's gone. Something that will bring it back to his his lesson.
00:52:45
Speaker
But now we get the whole, like, bring the whole town. ring the bell yeah never comes in Okay, so let's talk about the ending part, where Harrison Ford is human shielding himself to everyone. yeah The scene where he grabs the grandpa, he's like, you're gonna shoot him? You're gonna shoot me? It's like, whoa. whoa like yeah Well, before before that, I love Harrison Ford and the sheep just like yelling at each other comprehensively.
00:53:11
Speaker
like they're doing it they're doing like the normal like put your gun down put your gun down but they're doing at the same time so you can't understand what either of them are saying and they're just like screaming it it it is more realistic where two guys want to give that speech but when they both do it it's just garbling and it's like one guy trying to out act the other but um Harrison Ford does the better thing because he heaves his composure but the chief is like crying yelling put your gun down put your gun down Yeah, then I'm going to Nick cage freak out, but I get it. Yeah. And then, yeah, the whole time. So then, yeah, here's where it's like running. We tiny people would be like, got you got to shoot the kid. I guess this is like the shame on them. Like the amount of people like the chief just like collapses. It's like, I'm done. like give realizes You can't shoot all alone. Yeah. You can't shoot your way out of this. Nonviolence wins in the end. It's silently judging people.
00:54:13
Speaker
Is what we'll win. Yes, see that that I thought would happen where they are. I don't know, would do some sort of like group hug or human shielding or. Like maybe this is the time that Hans or whatever his name is, Carl, Carl, Carl, like he um he punches someone, you know. I mean, he does the ice cream thing to him.
00:54:42
Speaker
Yeah. So something we're like, yeah, it's like we've practiced nonviolence, but there's always this, this is an exception and then like punches in the face or something because he's like trying to kill them all. But, you know, it is still the chief down the power of their stairs. Like they're like the Care Bears. They have a stair and they like the chief is defeated. What is the 80s? This is essentially their Care Bears stair. Yeah, that's what they say. Yeah.
00:55:12
Speaker
But yeah, no, the part where he has, of course, is grabbing people to human shield himself with is so funny to me, just because, like, the boy is the main witness. And he's like, you want to shoot the boy right here? And the mom is freaking out. It's like, yeah, I would, too. This guy is just, like, begging, like, daring the chief to, like, do something. It's like, you want to kill this boy? And the chief should be like, yes, the whole point. He saw Danny Glover kill that guy. Like, it's what happens when you're here. Yeah.
00:55:41
Speaker
and i just
00:55:46
Speaker
though. Yeah, it just and then it just ends like it. Here's where it drives off. Like, well, I do like that. Their love is there, but they come from two different worlds. So it can never be. He's gonna go back to Philly. He's got to bring the car that he crashed to his sister. Yes. My sister played by Patti LuPone, by the way, who like, is a very big actress back then. Yeah.
00:56:15
Speaker
And she has like a big part. She's just in a bathroom, the whole movie.
00:56:22
Speaker
ah But yeah, her introduction is really rushed and then it's just frantic because she's like, well, I have a guy over and he's just like, you're on the kids over yeah yeah kids at the house. What are you doing? He's like, you're bringing like a strange woman and her son to to this house. Your house is not for you. Her house is for me. Is there something for live there, too?
00:56:42
Speaker
No, no, I think he lives in the apartment that he couldn't go back to because that's where Danny Lover popped out of. Oh, yeah. At the cart. He was pretty perfect in the garage and then you try to go to the elevator.
00:56:59
Speaker
is the There's a whole thing where Rachel's just like saying everything that paid up to the virus forward. So he says when you drink beer, you bed mouth the other cops and you you you do You don't want to start with the kids. and You don't want to get married. It's like, whoa. Okay. How long you were there? Like an hour? Like overnight? I think like one night. Okay. The phone just like goes in the room. Like, Hey, Hey girl, you want to drink some wine? Gossip? when Yeah. We had a girl's night. Um, there's one part where, um, I think like,
00:57:34
Speaker
Kellen McGinnis is explaining like, oh, we're Amish. And she's like, oh, I'm sorry. Just like walk off the room. Did you notice that? It's so weird. There's a lot of weird, just like awkward staring or awkward like interactions with people. So I mentioned this to you early about when I was watching this. I pointed out in the first scene, there's so much extra work just because that train station. But if you watch it again, there are people staring right into the camera.
00:58:05
Speaker
like It's like a random like local Philly people, not actors. It's like, hey, y'all film a movie here? like what's going like it's like What's going on here? Yeah, it's just Philly trash. It's like, is that that Han Solo? Han Solo, yo, what's up, man? It's also like, it's 80s Philly, too. So it's not even like modern Philly. I mean, modern Philly would be a lot of Eagle fans. I mean, this is the error of them getting more ballsy as a football team.
00:58:33
Speaker
Just like like, just like, pretty easy to random in the background in what scene. I think modern I'm gonna be wrong about this, but I forgot what years the Eagle fans are pelting batteries at, like, Eagle. That was, like, pretty famous because they did just, like, a Santa Claus. Yeah, I don't i don't know how, like, 80s Eagles or 80s flyers were doing.
00:59:00
Speaker
I think the flyers might've been good in the 80s. Ah, no, okay. the So there's a quick history of things. I don't know this history of it. 1968, so they threw batteries in 1968, and ever since then, it's just like everything.
00:59:20
Speaker
Yeah, man, ego fans were insane. They should've been more insane in that movie. Yeah, it's a very, ah you know,
00:59:28
Speaker
given Given the experience we had in Philly, or like people you know people like the reputation of Philly, like it's this is like a very, like, the train station seems nice. guess like They go to like one, like, nightclub, like, that that's a crazy, we haven't mentioned yet, but like, here's where, like, Dragon Simps is like a nightclub, and like pulls a random guy out, and it's like, this is the guy! This guy did it, like...
00:59:53
Speaker
Yeah. And it's just like, no way. All right. Bye. Like there's no procedure. There's no apologies. Even the guy who got pulled out, it was just like, huh. All right. Like he's so over it. Crazy, crazy cops. Like enjoy your night. like
01:00:17
Speaker
Yeah. Any other, any other final thoughts about witness Chris? Uh, Modus is like still a good movie. It's one of those, I don't see it a lot. I think this is the last time I saw it was like maybe you like 2010. Like it's it's definitely one of those, you understand why it was good. It ages okay. Like there's nothing about it that ah is unwatchable. You know, like it's not like there's a heavy reliance on gimmicks.
01:00:50
Speaker
Uh, it's one of the, well, recent movies, which I do appreciate that, like, no twists and turns. It's every, everything is explained. And then you're just watching a character study. here Um, so it's still a good drama. It's also, it's, it's interesting. Like that this, like this scale, so many like Oscar nominations, like yeah eight nominations, like best picture.
01:01:14
Speaker
It's like I don't I can't even think of like a similar like just like ah yeah like a crime thriller or like a some movie that we like today would get like, you know, tons of nominations at the Oscars. Oh, this would be like a straight to streaming movie. Yeah, like a Netflix movie or something. Or if yeah a like it'd be like an HBO series or something. Yeah, I think the next nearest thing I know that was like sort of like Like another PA thing is like the something mayor of whatever. Mayor of Easttown. Yeah. Which I heard is really good. It's like, it's not quite true detective season one caliber of just bizarre or whatever, but I heard it is genuinely like a good study of like, like grounded people, but it's still PA people. And I have to watch that movie with subtitles on.
01:02:06
Speaker
Oh, that series with subtitles. Yeah. But that that's like, that's what witness would be like, if you made witness today, it'd be like a limited HBO series. It wouldn't be like a movie that made $150 million. I think if they if someone ever wanted to make another TV series something witness would be ah fine. Like, hey, you want to see this like extended even longer. But honestly, like, it would be like a limited series. I don't see this being more than six episodes Six episodes because it's honestly like maybe do more about the investigation more of the like tracking the crime more of the corruption but The middle is just like if you slice like if I know there are movies where like a guy gets stuck in some town and then he fall it becomes a Hallmark movie where like oh you fall in love with the local and it's like well I'm from the city and you're from the country. It's that plot and Yeah, it's like the city guy is like, oh, I like I grew to love the slow pace and simplicity of the country. Like like i'm I'm like, I'm a workaholic for the city. And now I like but my whole life has been about my job and I never like enjoy the slow things like milking cow or something. Yeah. So I think it that's where I could see at the time when there wasn't a lot of that. And then after this movie, every other romance thing had that witness plot line of like,
01:03:25
Speaker
You're not from here, but like because you're not from here, like you're more desirable. Without without like the crime stuff, they just just they just turned into romantic comedies. like Yeah, this would have been a romantic comedy just because there's there's a lot of that, especially the dancing scene. And it's the will they won't they? And then, yeah, they want to, but like she's afraid of the elders. and hes He doesn't want her to move into Philly.
01:03:52
Speaker
Yeah. You just, you make Harrison Ford, like instead of like being a cop to like crack, like he's just like, like a business guy, like a workaholic businessman that crashes into their farm or something. Like, and then they have like, they have to take care of him on the farm because he can't go that, like, it's like, we can't bring him to the hospital. There's no hospital to hear. Like it was a, you have to stay here. And then they learned like about Amish life or something. It was like totally cut out all the,
01:04:21
Speaker
police crime stuff.
01:04:28
Speaker
Well, I'm also thinking it would have been a different movie if Harrison Ford was just like a drunk who sobers up in like Amish country.
Final Thoughts on 'Witness'
01:04:39
Speaker
If he was like, ah yeah, like ah like an alcoholic cop or something. Yep. And then like the cop part is just like a secondary, just more like, yeah Yeah, he has to use his vacation time. So he's there cleaning up, staying sober.
01:04:55
Speaker
But yeah, it's, uh, what about you? This is your first watch ever. Yeah. I mean, I've heard about it for years. Um, you know, I was like a huge Harrison Ford fan, but it's like, and it's, I've heard like, it's been, you know, it's in like the rankings of I don't know if it's, I'm not sure, it's probably like, I would say people write this probably like upper middle of Harrison Ford filmography.
01:05:23
Speaker
But ah yeah, it's it's it's a you it's it's a really solid but but really solid movie. um I do wish, I wish like the crime stuff was a little bit more interspersed dr throughout the whole thing. Cause yeah, it just it just it just disappears for like an hour of the movie.
01:05:43
Speaker
So I have a little bit more like twisting twist and twisted terms with like the crime plot, but everything else is great. All the acting is pretty great. And just Harrison Ford interacting with like this like new community and all that stuff is good.
01:06:03
Speaker
it's just it's also It's shocking that that this is it like this this wasn't like a book or something. like This feels like a movie that was like based on like a book, but it it was like an original idea. Yeah, it is surprising. It feels like a novel, but yeah, it's just like a screenplay that did really well. I think I won a BAFTA for just like original story. Well, when the Oscar for screenplay and film editing. Makes sense. Those are two Oscars at one.
01:06:32
Speaker
And yes, it's because it's speakings it's yeah it's justs it like mentioned before, but it's crazy that this is the only movie Harrison Ford's ever been nominated for for like Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor or anything like that. That's a shame.
01:06:46
Speaker
Maybe Captain America, maybe Red Hole could be another one. I don't know. he What he said about being in the new Captain America movie, he's just like, that's cool. I just need to take that. it that's That's typical Arizona forward. I could just not give a shit. I think if you talk non-sci-fi things with him, he's really excited. I think if I were to meet him, I'd have to shout out, I loved you and Sabrina or something.
01:07:10
Speaker
Yes. It's like romantic comedy. Mosquito Coast, Deep Cut. That is Deep Cut. Which I think is we did like literally at like Saint Director. Like they had such a good time working together on this. They ah but but did like like the Coast right afterwards.
01:07:29
Speaker
Is the movie called Six Day Seven Nights?
01:07:34
Speaker
There was it seven days, six nights. I forgot. But I saw that six days, seven. night I think it's six days, seven nights. Yeah. My parents drag me to make me see that in theaters, though, because they're like, well, nothing else was like age appropriate. So that's another weird romantic comedy. Here's four definitely like there's there's like chunks where he just is in like a lot of ah
01:08:02
Speaker
It's, it's, is it's, it's ups and downs. Like there's like, he'll have a run of, it's like kind of like not so great movies and they'll be like, right. Jump back into like, it'd be a bunch of like awesome movies again. and I feel like, I feel dress like he tries like at times for like six, eight, seven nights or, um, you know, like a Hollywood homicide or something or like, Oh, I forgot about Hollywood homicide. it's If you look at his filmography, it's like, it's like banger, banger, banger, banger. And then like three or four, like those were,
01:08:32
Speaker
interesting or okay, I guess. And then it's like, banger, banger, banger. You know, it's been a while since I saw Firewall.
01:08:44
Speaker
Man, how, how would homicide Firewall were back to back? I know. I was like, I can't address the skull. My brain can only remember like one of them. I could not remember like the other one where he is someone who like doesn't like his jab.
01:09:03
Speaker
Yeah, the ear two thousand but early were not a great Harrison Ford era.
01:09:12
Speaker
I'm just like, Cowboys and Aliens, remember that one? That wasn't bad. its It was just silly, but it's super yeah. there's There's a lot where you're just like, wait, what is that? What what was that movie again? Paranoia.
01:09:33
Speaker
Extraordinary measures with him and Brendan Fraser. I don't know what that one was about. But yeah, it's nice to see like a movie that gets back to basics and there's no like fluff, like in in terms of gimmicks. Like I said, like it's not like, oh, giant twist or, you know, it brings in something.
01:09:57
Speaker
like in the 80s, like Reagan doesn't show up or something. You know, it's it's a very straightforward story. I do appreciate that. Like it's a nice palate cleanser when you watch other movies these days. Yep. And it's fun fun to watch a deeper cut Harrison Ford movie before we, you know, see him Hulk out next week.
01:10:21
Speaker
And speaking next week,
Next Episode Teaser
01:10:22
Speaker
ah we're going to be celebrating a Valentine's Day next week by talking about My Bloody Valentine, the original 1980 movie, which I think, Chris, you i both of ah both of us have never seen that movie. We've seen the remake, but I don't think we've ever we seen the original one. So that'll be interesting to dive into the original one. and
01:10:42
Speaker
And maybe compare with the what they remake one and if there's any like major differences. I think you were saying you think there's like you think like it's there's not like a big twist like the remake has. like It's just like a straightforward like slasher movie. Yeah, I think it's like you know who the killer is. And just like I think it's a straightforward.
01:11:04
Speaker
like don't Don't get the minor to come get you. Where on the other one, I think they tried something different in the twist because it was post like fight club. And also, uh, you know, hard eyes is actually, if you heard, this is out, which is a new Valentine's day slasher movie. So, um, kind of ties into that as well. So come back for that next week, uh, hetero site. We've got all of our usual stuff. We got news reviews, trailers. I got a review of companion. I saw that this week. So you can write a view of that movie. It was pretty great.
01:11:36
Speaker
And tons of trailers. I think there's like Super Bowls happening obviously um this weekend. So I think huge shows dropping. We got Jurassic Park Rebirth and Fantastic Four both got trailers. So you watch those over on Everything Action. And all the other features we have there as well. head Check all that stuff out. And yes, for Chris, I am Zach, and we will see you next week. For more from Everything Action, head to www.everythingaction.com.
01:12:03
Speaker
You can also find us on Facebook at facebook.com slash everything.action and follow us on X at Evieaction. We're also on Instagram and threads at everything.action. Find more episodes of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcast epic choice and be sure to rate and subscribe.