''I Witness'' is a 2003 American

action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by

Rowdy Herrington Rowdy L. Herrington (born 1951 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a Hollywood director and writer currently residing in Livingston, Montana. He is married and has no children. Career Rowdy attended Penn State from 1969 to 1973 and majored in te ...

, starring Jeff Daniels,

James Spader James Todd Spader (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor. He has portrayed eccentric characters in films such as the drama ''Sex, Lies, and Videotape'' (1989) for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, the action scie ...

Portia de Rossi Portia Lee James DeGeneres (born Amanda Lee Rogers; 31 January 1973), known professionally as Portia de Rossi, is an Australian-American former actress. She played Nelle Porter on the American drama series '' Ally McBeal'' (1998–2002), for w ...

Clifton Collins Jr. Clifton Craig Collins Jr. is an American actor. After starting in 1990, with small roles in film and on television, Collins gained attention for his performance as Cpl. Ramon Aguilar, a prisoner "serving" under an imprisoned general played by R ...

and

Wade Williams Wade Andrew Williams (born December 24, 1961) is an American actor. He is known for his various character roles, and for a major supporting role as correctional officer Brad Bellick on the Fox television series ''Prison Break'' and Father Cronin ...

. Released in the United States on February 1, 2003, and re-released by Universal in 2007.

Plot

On his last assignment prior to resigning, burned out human rights activist James Rhodes arrives in

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

to help oversee local union elections, which are occurring in a chemical factory built by a US corporation, an election tainted with violence. While there, he becomes embroiled in the investigation of a mass murder in what appears to be a drug runners' tunnel on the Tijuana/

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

border, which was casually discovered. He teams up with a local honest street cop and a US official all under the watchful eye of State Department attache, eager to pin the killings on a drug cartel. But when Rhodes links the human rights atrocity to the murder of two American teenage dirt bikers and discovers they all have been poisoned with chemicals, he uncovers a web of corruption between the US corporation, who owns the factory, and the local police, only to realize that he himself has become a dangerous liability to those who pull the puppet strings on one of the world's most dangerous borders. Now he has to solve the murders before becoming the next victim.

Cast

* Jeff Daniels as James Rhodes *

as Douglas Draper *

as Emily Thompson * Clifton Collins, Jr. as Claudio Castillo *

as Roy Logan *

Jordi Caballero Jordi Caballero (born February 5, 1965) is a Spanish actor, dancer, pianist, reality show personality, choreographer, writer, and producer for stage, film, and television. He is a member of the Producers Guild of America, SAG-AFTRA, Actors' Equity ...

as Captain Madrid * Pablo Cunqueiro as Father Perez

History

Originally entitled "God's Witness," the script by Colin Greene and rock star Robert Ozn found its way on to many Hollywood executives' "best un-produced screenplays" lists. While it was set up multiple times with a variety of film stars, directors and producers, the film fell apart repeatedly over a period of eight years. Finally, executive producer Paul de Souza was able to get the screenplay in front of David Bixler, then Senior VP of Promark Films. Bixler and Promark's founder, Jonathan Kramer, procured tax credit financing in Puerto Rico and brought producer/casting director Julia Verdin on board along with director Rowdy Herrington. The project got its green light when both Jeff Daniels and James Spader read the material and signed on. Greene and Ozn won the 2003 Method Fest Best Screenplay Award.

References

External links

* 2003 films 2003 action thriller films 2000s English-language films American action thriller films Films about Mexican drug cartels Films directed by Rowdy Herrington Films scored by David Kitay Films set in Tijuana Films shot in Mexico Films shot in Puerto Rico 2000s American films 2000s Mexican films {{action-thriller-film-stub