William Hurt Movie:

				Salesrank:
		Our Price: $21.97
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
WARNING: Region 2 Pal - Multiregion DVD Player REQUIRED - French cover and menu - ENGLISH & FRENCH audio - A ten-year-old mute child witnesses a murder and flees into the streets of Amsterdam. The chase that follows is only the beginning...

Silent Witness [Region 2] Reviews:
One of My Favorite Films- Watch It Over & Over !
2008-12-22 - I clicked on Amazon to direct a friend to get her own copy of this movie and was shocked to see the bad reviews. This is an enthralling, completely unique and interesting movie. It takes a dark subject and makes it into a story of triump for the protagonist of the story... a 10-year-old American girl who is a deaf-mute. She is visiting with her parents and accidently witnesses a murder, then is chased through the streets of Amsterdam, outwitting the her would-be assassins. The Amsterdam setting creates a perfect backdrop and the endless plot twists and action escapes are brilliant. To me, this is another version of the HOME ALONE movies - but far more interesting and definitely more cultural. And the star is a young girl - and don't we need more movies with young women taking the lead? Francesca Brown, the young star of the movie, deserves an award for her magnificent portrayal of a victim turned into a heroine. All girls and young women will appreciate this rare treat. Everyone who has watched this film with me always wants to watch it again and again as it has so many interesting plot twists and great action scenes. Note: originally released in 1999 as DO NOT DISTURB.
I highly recommend this film.

How the Mighty Have Fallen
2008-10-27 - This is a must-see for anyone who wants to witness the depths to which a great Academy Award winning actor will travel. Also, it is a must-see to witness one of the most side-splittingly funny scenes ever filmed. Wait patiently until the end when the gurney falls out of the back of the ambulance. I laughed til I cried.

It's difficult to tell whether this film was intentionally funny or just happened to turn out that way accidentally. The plot is delirious and the acting atrocious, but the city of Amsterdam has a great chance to shine and is perhaps the only star of this movie worthy of recognition.

This film is worth seeing because of how incredibly bad it is. Like the accident you can't help staring at.

campy fun and great Amsterdam
2007-05-20 - This movie was so unbelievable, it was fun. Agreed with the opinions of the great Amsterdam scenes. I had never seen a movie made there. Charming place.

I enjoyed the boat bum. All the parts where the girl gets the best of the hitman were so unbelievable. In one part a supposed 10-year-old (she looks 16, if she's a day), swings from a beam in an elevator shaft and kicks the hitman off balance. Picture a normal sized 10-year-old girl doing this. Which makes the whole thing really nutty. Oh, and the ambulance chase with the William Hurt character hanging on outside was pure Charlie Chaplin. I expected him to lose an arm grabbing the crowbar at such high speed. I cringed at the crashes and hoped nothing in that lovely antique town was damaged.

I want my hour and forty minutes back ! ! !
2007-05-17 - I just wish there was a way to rate this one with negative stars. I've never rated anything, but cannot bear the thought of some other poor bored soul losing precious time with this stinker. I watch a lot of movies, and this may very well be the worst I've ever seen. To quote the person who watched it with me "Shame on William Hurt. Shame on Denis Leary and Jennifer Tilley. Shame on the kid who brought sandwiches to the set at lunch!"

Apparently there were no Dutch in Amsterdam while filming this because everyone spoke with an American accent. Maybe the Dutch read the script first and knew better.

If you want to spin a positive on this movie, then turn it into a drinking game. Every time Bill Hurt switches back and forth from a Southern drawl to his normal voice, take a shot of your favorite liquor. Mercifully you will pass out before wasting time on the ending.


Silly, Impossible Action in Amsterdam Starring Hurt & Tilly
2004-05-20 - Well, I admit, this is a very, very silly film by cult Dutch film maker Dick Maas, starring William Hurt, Jennifer Tilly, and Dennis Leary. Like all the Maas's films -- did you see Naomi Watts in "The Shaft"? -- "Silent Witness" is an uncomfortable blend of thrill and laugh, and though the actors try their best, the result is not as good as is intended.

The film is also titled "Do Not Disturb," and quite appropriately starts with the scene where newly-arrived family (Hurt and Tilly ... most unlikely husband and wife) check in Hotel De L'Europe in Amsterdam. They also have a pretty daughter (Francesca Brown) who cannot speak (hence, Silent Witness), who, well, witnesses a murder done by a hitman (Corey Johnson).

The rest of the film is about the 10 year-old girl's attempt to save her life and tell the truth to the parents. The cat-and-mouse situation sometimes becomes silly when this girl can foil the professional hitman's attacks, displaying the impossible ruses you can never imagine yourself. And when in real trouble, an American Dennis Leary (who happens to live in the small boat in the city's canal) offers a help.

Still, ridiculous as it is, the film is always good to see for its locations. The seductive charms of the night of Amsterdam are beautifully captured, and after all Dick Maas lived in this city for more than 25 years, so why not? And the film comes with the surprisingly good action sequences shot on the streets of the city.

If you have absolutely nothing to do, or just want to see the beautiful city of Amsterdam, "Silent Witness" is a place to go. Otherwise, stick to Bruce Willis's "Die Hard" which this film is definitely not.