I Witness

2003

Action / Crime / Drama / Romance / Thriller

9
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 32% · 2 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 32% · 250 ratings
IMDb Rating 5.7/10 10 1666 1.7K

Director

Rowdy Herrington Photo
Rowdy Herrington

Top cast

James Spader Photo
James Spader as Douglas Draper
Portia de Rossi Photo
Portia de Rossi as Emily Thompson
Jordi Caballero Photo
Jordi Caballero as Captain Madrid
Wade Williams Photo
Wade Williams as Roy Logan
480p.DVD
838.66 MB
688*384
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles
25 fps
1 hr 34 min
Seeds 5

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by SnoopyStyle 6 / 10

great cast in limited production

In Mexico, two American dirtbikers are killed. In Tijuana, the police discovers a tunnel collapse with many bodies. This attracts the attention of human rights reporter Jim Rhodes (Jeff Daniels) and American representative Douglas Draper (James Spader). The police puts it as a simple drug tunnel collapse but Rhodes disagrees. Rhodes is also monitoring an union vote in an American company operating locally. Emily Thompson (Portia de Rossi) is an American trade representative. Roy Logan (Wade Williams) is the plant manager. Claudio Castillo (Clifton Collins Jr.) is a honest local cop. As the government lays everything on the drug lord, a deeper conspiracy is uncovered.The production value is limited. The movie wants to be big. There are so many plot lines and characters going all over the place. Its ambition is bigger than the movie. Luckily for the movie, it has great actors at work. Jeff Daniels is great and all the actors down the line are top notch. The story needs a bit of simplification. It could slim the main cast down by one or two. The directions aren't good enough whether it's the action scenes or the crowds.
Reviewed by Uriah43 7 / 10

Thugs and Hired Killers

I liked this movie for several reasons. First, I thought it portrayed the "maliquidoras" (companies that move their plants and factories south of the Rio Grande) quite realistically. Second, I believe that the drug cartels deserve every bit of bad publicity they can get. Third, I also believe that the corruption of government officials in Mexico should be exposed. Of course, I realize that this was a film that was totally fictitious. But things very similar to this actually happen when greed takes over and people are treated like "widgets" and nothing more. And I believe people need to be made aware of this. But despite the politics involved, I also liked the film due to the way the movie played out. Jeff Daniels (playing International Rights Watch advocate "James Rhodes") did pretty well in conveying the "crusader" spirit that is necessary for the job at hand. Additionally, I liked the cynicism of "Douglas Draper" (James Spader) and the cautious attitude of the Mexican investigator named "Claudio Castillo" (Clifton Collins Jr). All three characters seemed to fit quite well. And then there is the attractive American State Department agent named "Emily Thompson" (Portia de Rossi) whose presence brightened the screen as well. As far as the plot is concerned, I thought it kept my attention. At least for the most part. However, I seriously doubt that any drug cartel is going to be that concerned about its public image like this movie tried to depict. After all, they're thugs and hired killers and it's what they do. So shooting it out with the Mexican police to defend their reputation was a bit far-fetched. Likewise, the ending was a bit too convenient. But other than that I enjoyed this movie.
Reviewed by snake77 7 / 10

What happened to this movie? It's really good...

Spotted this DVD on eBay and bought it on the cheap from someone in the UK. Watched it last night and all I can say is what a great surprise! This is a really well done political thriller in the tradition of Traffic. Daniels, Spader, de Rossi, and especially Clifton Collins do some terrific acting. The direction is tight, the story is interesting, the political angle is provocative, the Mexican sets are authentic. All in all a very good film for what was obviously a smallish budget. Why this movie isn't on video in the US (was it ever shown in a theater?) is beyond me. Especially considering all the crap that IS on video. Does anyone know what happened to this movie?
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