Genre Guesstimation – Witness Protection (1999)

The idea behind this feature (Genre Guesstimation) is for me to watch a bunch of new movies (or ones that I haven’t seen many times) from the chosen monthly GG genre in order to expand my knowledge of movies within that particular genre.

This month’s Genre has been chosen by Ryan of Ten Stars or Less.  We will be reviewing our favorite Boston Film(s).

According to Ryan’s research, this is probably the best list of movies set in Boston

https://www.boston.com/culture/entertainment/2015/07/13/the-20-most-boston-movies-ever

Here is what appears to be the official/unofficial list of everything related to Boston movies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_set_in_Boston

Please get me your submissions by the 25th of Apr by sending them to BostonRyan@movierob.net

Try to think out of the box! Great choice Ryan!

Let’s see if I felt that this movie would be worthy of being in the company of my others favorite movies in the genre of Boston Films…

“We have a expression here – Readjustment of expectations. Youn Know what that means? Readjustment of expectations means – selling cocaine makes a lot more money than working nights at 7-11.” – Steven Beck

Number of Times Seen – 1 (3 Apr 2017)

Brief Synopsis – A former mobster must decide whether to inform on his cohorts and enter witness protection with his family or risk retaliation from the mob.

My Take on it – This is an HBO made for TV film that I accidentally came across but with such a cast was quite happy to see if it was worthwhile.

Tom Sizemore, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Forest Whitaker and Shawn Hatosey are all great here.

They do a great job of showing us the psychological and emotional impact that criminals and their family members must undertake in order to try and find a way to quietly seep into a normal regular anonymous life after giving testimony.

We can easily seem how difficult these kind of decisions can be and how difficult it must be for these people to make a final decision about the rest of their lives once they choose to help the government against their former friends and employers.

I really liked the way that they present us with so many issues that most TV shows or movies don’t bring up about the “nitty-gritty” of the complex situation of those entering the witness protection program; things aren’t as clear cut as they may seem.

Bottom Line – Great cast helps make this idea work quite well. We feel the emotional and psychological impact that such a decision must weigh on those who choose to become government informants. It brings up some great issues that normally are not explored in the media of films and tv shows which shows the complexity of these kind of situations. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Nominated for a Golden Globe as Best TV movie (From IMDB)

Genre Grandeur Worthy? – Close. The idea is great along with the cast but just misses the mark.

Rating – Globe Worthy

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