I Witness

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.

In Tijuana, Mexico, near to the border with USA, James Rhodes (the excellent Jeff Daniels) is a member of the Human Rights organization, working as an observer of the election of the workers of an American company, represented by the member of U.S. Government Emily Thompson (Portia de Rossi). The local workers are supposed to decide whether they want the union in the company or not. Meanwhile, twenty-seven bodies of humble people are found buried in an abandoned tunnel, drilled in the past by the lord of the drugs Voltan. In the same day, two young American are killed while driving their motorcycles off-road, in a track in a desert area. These events apparently not related are investigated by Claudio Castillo (Clifton Collins Jr.), a honest detective from Mexican homicide department, pressed by James and his superiors. Voltan is blamed for all the deaths, and resolves to help indirectly James in his investigation. Douglas Draper (James Spader) is a cynical liaison of the American police force, working together with the corrupt Captain Madrid (Jordi Caballero). The conclusion of this realistic story is full of revelations of dirty secrets. This movie was the wonderful surprise of the year: it is an excellent thriller. There is no clichés, no special effects and the characters are very human and well developed. The screenplay is very tight, without flaws; the direction is outstanding; and the magnificent cast has a marvelous performance. The plot recalls a Costa-Gravas movie, showing corruption both in Americans and Mexicans. The resolution of the situation is not corny or commercial, and does not spare or redeem any character, what is not common in American movies. Congratulation to all the persons that contributed for such an excellent entertainment. I just do not understand why this movie has had no promotion from the specialized critics and means of communication. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): `Testemunha Ocular' (`Eye Witness')

I've read other comments here which say it's also like "Traffic." Ditto that for me as well. Don't know who these writers are (Colin Greene and Robert Ozn) but they are truly awesome. Tight plotting, terse cop-talk tied to characterization and impassioned issue oriented story-line without preaching. Love the way the writers tie the diverse story lines together at the very end. I never guessed how it was all related and they really knew how to keep me hooked. Jeff Daniels gives a very cool,understated performance. Love Portia DeRossi, very sexy without trying. And of course James Spader is always fascinating to watch - wish he had more to do in this flick. I saw this in Europe on a DVD. How come this thing is not out in the USA?!

Superficially, 'I Witness' sounds very promising: a thriller whose story mixes the battle of a union for recognition, a mass grave in Mexico and the mysterious vanishing of two American kids. But everyone speaks in that slick, snappy way you only seem to hear in film or TV, Jeff Daniels plays a human rights monitor as a self-righteous international detective, and Portia de Rossi is utterly ludicrous in her role, eye-candy disguised as an American trade envoy. More generally, the film lapses into portraying Mexico as a place where everything is utterly rotten, while the US government, although questioned, ultimately comes down on the right side in the rather ludicrous finale. Yet another criticism is that there's just too much action: for certain, there are plenty of worst offenders, but a drama with any real interest in Mexican assembly plants, or drug cartels, would follow a single story with more care, instead of decorating it with as many chases and gun fights as we get here. Ultimately, this is a film that doesn't seem to know what it wants to be: strip away the pretension to seriousness, and there's not much more than an underpowered version of something like the Jason Bourne films. It's a shame, because there's more than enough potential content in it's ideas to make a great movie.

Like Bordertown, I Witness exposes another underbelly of corporate internationalism seeking windfall profits by escaping fair trade practices, fair wages and scrutiny by government agencies created to protect environmental concerns. Hiding behind Mexico's drug wars, the new gangsters of corporate thuggery use criminal means to cloak the cost of dumping toxic chemical waste upon the unsuspecting in a country where a bribe can cover any crime, no matter the number and innocence of victims. And like Bordertown, I Witness takes with fiction the excursions into truth today's mess media would dare not touch upon. Jeff Daniels and James Spader typically provide glowing performances while Clifton Collier Jr's performance places as something grand to see. Rowdy Harrington's direction is professionally able and the camera work is exceptional. Writers Colin Greene and Robert Ozn are to be commended. A film whose time is come and whose value exceeds entertainment, this should have been required viewing by Congress before passing on trade agreements that have undermined the quality of life on both sides of the border. JCH