M A G P I E à la modus operandi. The first time I spotted the alligator in the murky waters of a man-made lake framing luxurious condos on one side and a city park on the other, I worried aloud for the safety of the mallards, Muscovy, and white, waddling ducks, the snapping turtles, giant goldfish, flock of pristine egrets, and wading blue heron, making their homes in the marshes there. And, the kids who play in this park, my sweetheart added.

A fine movie offers many ways to enjoy it. Performances, themes, plot and cinematography are just a few. An exceptional movie like Witness. Makes me want to talk about them all at once. A crime drama whose centerpiece scene is an Amish-country barn-raising, a love-story where yearning is palpable in a long glance and a hard swallow, and a film equally at ease in the bliss of purring kittens and the naked hate of a killers eyes, Witness.