Witness Protection |  | Director: Richard Pearce
Actors: Tom Sizemore, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Shawn Hatosy, Skye McCole Bartusiak, Forest Whitaker
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
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Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 45856
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.6 x 0.5
MPN: 91703
ISBN: 0783116799
UPC: 026359170324
EAN: 9780783116792
ASIN: 0783116799
Theatrical Release Date: December 11, 1999
Release Date: June 13, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | When mobster Bobby Batton awakens to find his home under attack by a relentless hit-man, he makes a life or death decision to save his family by entering the witness protection program. Now they must each leave friends and family forever, change their names and destroy their past. Not every family can do it - but failing can be a death sentence. Only Bobby can hold it together - but Bobby's starti |
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Product Description
When mobster Bobby Batton awakens to find his home under attack by a relentless hit-man he makes a life or death decision to save his family by entering the witness protection program. Now they must each leave friends and family forever change their names and destroy their past. Not every family can do it - but failing can be a death sentence. Only Bobby can hold it together - but Bobby's starting to fall apart...Running Time: 105 min.System Requirements:Running Time 101 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 026359170324
Amazon.com
Bobby Batton (Tom Sizemore) is a middle-class father and family man who just happens to make his living as a mobster. After surviving a midnight attempt on his life in his own home, he packs up and hustles his family off to a motel, where he tries to figure out who wants him dead. The FBI offers him a choice: face prison time on previous indictments, or turn state's evidence and enter the Witness Protection Program. The family soon finds itself in an interim facility run by the agency, a sterile apartment with all the personality of a hotel suite, trying to leave their past behind and make the adjustment to new lives and new identities. Batton's family is about as "normal" as a mobster's family could be, but things soon begin to fall apart under the strain of their situation. The reliable Sizemore and costar Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio are both good in their roles, as is Forest Whitaker as a sympathetic federal official, but they never quite rise above the shopworn story. To the screenwriter's credit, Batton's character has some real depth; on the surface, he's a fairly unsympathetic figure, a slimy mob type who's made his living as a professional criminal. When things are turned upside down, though, he shows himself to actually care about his family and struggle to make things work out. That aside, though, this is still a fairly average made-for-cable drama, with a cast making the best of an uncompelling screenplay and flat direction. --Jerry Renshaw
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
 The Best HBO Movie Ive Seen So Far February 12, 2010
G. J. Rohr (ny)
Wow, I didnt think HBO was ever gonna make a decent movie. The acting is fantastic, even down to the little 8 year old daughter. I mean it doesnt leave anything out or candycoat the experience of entering the witness protection program. Its heartbraking at times I think, I dont know I cant explain it you know when you see someone that gets themself really embarrassed in front of a lot of people? Or when someones facad of coolness or strength suddenly gets broken down in front of strangers? And you kind of cringe when you see it cause we all have skeletons in the closet, we all think "man, that could be me." Watching the really strong parts of this movie are a lot like that. This tough crime boss suddenly becomes like a quivering child as hes' against the wall in the movie, trying to decide how to continue on with his family. The wife, too...Her prissyness and rich-housewifeness gets torn away as she realizes the life they were living is really gone. In the end, they have to become the 'great-American' honest family cause its the only way they can survive...And had they not entered the witness protection program, who knows how they mayve ended up. Thats another good thing about the movie, besides it being very well-acted and excellently written...It really has no ending. You'll see what I mean.
 Know the Job Well May 28, 2007
Ellenida (USA)
Having worked in the Witness Program (WSP, WitSec) for 9 years, I was very impressed with this film. Sizemore was typical of mobster entering the Program: fearful, cocky, arrogant, patronizing, angry, unhappy, and unfeeling about what his actions have cost his family; in short... self-absorbed. Since I'm retired now, the movie brought back all the memories of dealing with these guys and talking to them in the only language they understand. I even remembered in which section of the file the Memorandum of Understanding went.
It also brought back memories of the James Caan movie "Hide in Plain Sight", which was a true story and changed the rules regarding non-custodial parental rights when a spouse in WSP is relocated.
Both Whittaker and Sizemore did an outstanding job in this film, which got the stamp of approval from the USMS. It's a shame it was made for video and not for the big screen. I watch it every few months just to keep my mind fresh about a job I worked and loved.
Transition into the witness protection program isn't easy June 11, 2005
Linda Linguvic (New York City)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This 1992 HBO film dealt with a subject that has always fascinated me and yet I knew little about. What happens to a family that goes into the witness protection program? What kind of problems do they face? And how, exactly, does the transformation work. This film attempts to answer some of these questions. And, if the characters are a little larger than life, and the story sometimes dips to the level of a soap opera, it really didn't matter to me. Because by then, I was so involved with the story and the personalities of this particular fictional family that I was too caught up to care.
The story starts out strong and continues its hectic pace. We soon learn that Tom Sizemore is involved with the mob who are out to kill him. It becomes apparent that his wife and children are also in danger. That's when Tom Sizemore goes to the FBI and agrees to testify in exchange for his family's protection.
The teenage son who is doing so well is school that he could get into a prestigious college is heartbroken. He has to leave his girlfriend too. And give up what looks like his whole future. The little 5-year old girl has to learn to lie about her name. And the wife, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, has to give up all the luxuries she's become adjusted to. This family is going to be poor in their new location and the father is going to have to work as a laborer.
This change doesn't happen overnight however. First, the family must spend 5 days in an FBI relocation house which looks like a house but is really a fancy prison. Here, they have to learn how to behave in their new environment. Forest Whitiker is cast as the FBI agent who will help make this happen. He plays his "tough love" part well and keeps saying he doesn't care. But it is clear that he does care about this family.
There are arguments between the husband and wife and one scene where the dishes fly and she hits him with a frying pan. There is one scene where the son refuses to go along with the relocation. The little girl cries a lot and we wonder how this will all affect her little life. Tensions do more than mount. They explode. And there were times that my own emotions were touched and I found my eyes tearing up.
I enjoyed this film and its unique angle on what the witness protection program means in the lives of one particular family. It made me think.
Flawlessly Performed November 27, 2003
M. Hencke (New York, NY United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The performances make this made for cable efforta must see. Some of the writing particularly in the middle section of the film is really strong. Give it a chance it is quite fascinating.
Good movie June 1, 2003
Tonia (USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This movie starts off with a bang and keeps you in suspense but the ending becomes obvious during the last 20 or so minutes. Ms. Mastrantonio is incredible in this movie and I recommend viewing it when you've got nothing on your mind because the story really pulls you in and you might forget those important car insurance bills that have overwhelmed you tired little mind.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
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