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Witness for the Prosecution on Reel 13

Billy Wilder has his fourth film featured on Reel 13 this year and it is one that I had, surprisingly enough, never seen before. WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, based on a play by Agatha Christie, turned out to be a very effective and tense courtroom drama, proving once again that Wilder is not just a great comedy director – he is simply a great director.

While the plot is all Christie, the dialogue is all Wilder. Snappy sarcasm and this time, with a Brit twist. The mystery itself has some formulaic elements – almost like an episode of THE PRACTICE – but is consistently interesting due to the way Wilder doles out the information. I think the attribute that most makes the movie work is the editing. The film has a brisk pace without being overly fast – it's a steady advancing of the narrative that keeps the viewer involved without stopping long enough for you to solve the crime or going too fast that you miss the bread crumb trail that is left for you. It's the perfect way to approach this kind of story.

The only real complaint I have about WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION is a small one and it relates to the ending. Granted, I was sufficiently surprised, but there was something that didn't sit well with me about it (it almost seemed as if the Charles Laughton character felt the same way). Firstly, the way the villains all explain themselves at the end is a staple of the genre, but remains problematic. Secondly, it was almost too perfect of a crime/scheme that it didn't seem natural. Only superbraniac villains the likes of Lex Luthor would be able to come up with a plan that air tight. They were able to perfectly predict and anticipate the actions of everyone involved, without even slightly knowing the players in advance. I know Christie's job was to consistently stump and bewilder her readers. She constantly had to be coming up with new ways to trick her increasingly savvy fan base. In this case, the trade off of achieving a truly surprising ending is that it didn't really ring true. While all the facts added up and made sense from a mathematical point of view, it still didn't feel right. And that's a shame, particularly because the first 100 minutes made for a truly great movie.

(For information on this or any other Reel 13 film, check out their website at www.reel13.org)

Posted on 10/08/08 by: eplromeo8 09:11 PM