YMMV / Witness

• Award Snub: Harrison Ford's sole Oscar nomination thus far, and he didn't win.
• Awesome Music: Maurice Jarre's score. Conceptually speaking it shouldn't work as it's played entirely on synthesisers, and the Amish wouldn't go near a synth, and yet it's uplifting without being sentimental.
• Harsher in Hindsight: The scene of Samuel finding John's gun in his room, and the inherent Fridge Horror of what he could have done with it. Said scene is sadly reminiscent of the many reports of little kids getting hold of parents' unsecured weapons and accidentally killing parents, siblings, friends, or themselves.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Alexander Godunov plays a very passive, peace loving Amish man in this film, then 3 years later becomes famous as a crazy, gun-toting terrorist- and certainly none of the Jerkasses who bullied him with ice cream would dream of doing so again!
• Narm Charm: The Big Damn Kiss is decidedly un-sexy - and in some parts it looks like John is trying to bite Rachel's mouth off - but it's so raw that it works in the context of the scene.
• Parody Displacement: The Simpsons parodying all the Amish coming when the bells are rung in the episode "Itchy and Scratchy Land" is probably more remembered among younger viewers - some of whom might not realise it's parodying the climax of this movie. Same with the episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun where the ice cream scene is parodied.
• Retroactive Recognition: This was Viggo Mortensen's first movie, as one of the Amish. He even shakes Harrison Ford's hand during the barn-raising scene. Good thing he didn't have more of a major role, or the world might explode from the combined awesomeness of Han Solo vs Aragorn.
• Signature Scene: The ice cream scene of course, since it's been referenced and parodied so many times over the years. The barn-raising and Shower Scene count as well.
• Stoic Woobie: Rachel, considering she buries her husband at the start of the movie, has to deal with her son being a witness to a murder and eventually falling for Book (which would make her an outcast in her community). All this time, she remains composed and doesn't complain, other than getting a bit snappish when her father-in-law tells her off for fooling around with Book.

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