MovieChat Forums > Witness (1985) Discussion > Lukas Haas outshines Ford

Lukas Haas outshines Ford

posted 15 years ago by Benedict_Cumberbatch
3 replies | jump to latest

Don't get me wrong, I like Ford but as he admitted himself, he's a big star, not a great actor. I think Lukas Haas was the real soul of the film, with his incredibly natural performance. I also think this is Kelly McGillis' best, although she hasn't done a lot of good work anyway. Ford is adequate to the part and does it well, but I wouldn't call it a great performance. His best work, IMO, was in Weir's subsequent film, the underrated "The Mosquito Coast", with Helen Mirren and River Phoenix.

"I did cramps the way Meryl Streep did accents" - Calliope (Middlesex)

[–] DeuceWild_77 13 years ago

This movie was Ford's standout role, he was the movie! Kelly McGillis and Jan Rubes were both very good too, about Haas he was good in the bathroom scene early in the movie but besides that he was almost a background character until the near end of the movie, good performance for a child actor but nothing sort of amazing. I agree with you about "The Mosquito Coast" it was Ford's all time best performance ("Witness" it's his second all time best) and he should have been nominated for an Oscar.

[–] Kowalchuk 12 years ago

Supporting in a movie is worlds away from actually starring in one.

Ford's best ten minutes from this film stack up against any Supporting Actor Oscar performance and as history has shown, the best supporting actors don't necessarily have the ability to carry an entire movie

The history of film is littered with amazing performances by supporting actors who would never realize any real success in leading roles. This isn't meant to lessen their achievements but they do need to be put in perspective.

[–] kanimaki 11 years ago

Yes. Lukas Haas was perfect. Shame he's now so overlooked in his current roles.