Witness Protection is a 1999

1999 in television

The year 1999 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1999.For the American TV schedule, see: 1999-00 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-Miniseries:...

 American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 television movie

Television movie

A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...

 directed by Richard Pearce. The teleplay

Screenplay

A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...

 by Daniel Therriault is based on a New York Times Magazine

The New York Times Magazine

The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...

article entitled The Invisible Family by Robert Sabbag

Robert Sabbag

Robert Sabbag is an American journalist and author of two books on drugs smuggling in the United States:Snowblind: A Brief Career in the Cocaine Trade and the follow-up book Smokescreen: A True Adventure...

. It was broadcast by HBO on December 11 and released on videotape

Videotape

A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...

 in Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 (Protecção de Uma Testemunha), Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 (Protejan al testigo), and Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 the following year.

Plot synopsis

South Boston career criminal Bobby Batton, facing execution by the mob

Organized crime

Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...

, is offered a deal by the FBI: immunity from prosecution for several serious crimes in exchange for testimony

Testimony

In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. All testimonies should be well thought out and truthful. It was the custom in Ancient Rome for the men to place their right hand on a Bible when taking an oath...

 against his partners, after which he and his family will join the Federal Witness Protection Program

United States Federal Witness Protection Program

The United States Federal Witness Protection Program is a witness protection program administered by the United States Department of Justice and operated by the United States Marshals Service that is designed to protect threatened witnesses before, during, and after a trial.A few states, including...

. Batton accepts the offer, and he, his wife Cindy, his Harvard-bound son Sean, and young daughter Suzie spend five days with federal marshal

United States Marshals Service

The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...

 Steven Beck, who coaches them in their new identities in preparation for their relocation to Seattle. Trying to cope without money, friends, relatives, pets, possessions, or any semblance of a past existence proves to be more difficult than any of them anticipated, and when the family slowly begins to disintegrate under the weight of recriminations and frustration, Bobby wonders if his freedom is worth the sacrifices his loved ones have been forced to make.

Principal cast

• Tom Sizemore
  Tom Sizemore
  Thomas Edward "Tom" Sizemore, Jr. is an American film and television actor and producer. He is known for his roles in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Strange Days, Pearl Harbor, Heat and Black Hawk Down....
  
   ..... Bobby Batton
• Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
  Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
  Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is an American actress and singer known for her role as Carmen in The Color of Money, as well as for her roles as Lindsey Brigman in The Abyss, Gina Montana in Scarface, and Maid Marian in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.-Personal life:Mastrantonio was born in Lombard,...
  
   ..... Cindy Batton
• Forest Whitaker
  Forest Whitaker
  Forest Steven Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. He has earned a reputation for intensive character study work for films such as Bird and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and for his recurring role as ex-LAPD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on the gritty, award-winning television...
  
   ..... Steven Beck
• Shawn Hatosy
  Shawn Hatosy
  Shawn Wayne Hatosy is an actor with over 40 film and television credits to his name.-Personal life:Hatosy was born in Frederick, Maryland, the son of Carol , a loan officer, and Wayne Hatosy, a graphic designer and event planning director...
  
   ..... Sean Batton
• Skye McCole Bartusiak
  Skye McCole Bartusiak
  -Life and career:McCole Bartusiak was born in Houston, Texas, where she lives today with her parents Raymond Donald Bartusiak and Helen McCole. She attended St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal school for her elementary education....
  
   ..... Suzie Batton

Principal production credits

• Executive Producer
  Film producer
  A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
  
   ..... Henry S. Schleiff
• Original Music
  Film score
  A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
  
   ..... Cliff Eidelman
  Cliff Eidelman
  Clifford Glen “Cliff” Eidelman is an American composer and conductor who scored films such as Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Free Willy 3: The Rescue, and Christopher Columbus: The Discovery.- Career :Eidelman began his formal training in violin at the age of eight and continued with...
  
  
• Cinematography
  Cinematography
  Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
  
   ..... Fred Murphy
• Production Design
  Production designer
  In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
  
   ..... Patrizia von Brandenstein
• Art Direction
  Art director
  The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
  
   ..... James F. Truesdale
• Costume Design
  Costume design
  Costume design is the fabrication of apparel for the overall appearance of a character or performer. This usually involves researching, designing and building the actual items from conception. Costumes may be for a theater or cinema performance but may not be limited to such...
  
   ..... Hope Hanafin

Critical reception

Caren Weiner Campbell of Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

rated the DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 release a B and added, "With its moody Sopranos

The Sopranos

The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...

vibe, this modest made-for-cable drama begins gracefully but bogs down a bit during the family's orientation, during which Whitaker, as the feds' liaison

Liaison

Liaison in general means:# Communication between two or more groups.# Co-operation, working together.but may refer to:* Affair, an unfaithful or adulterous sexual relationship* Air Alliance, a Canadian airline whose call sign was "Liaison'...

, gives a performance so subdued he almost seems to be sleepwalking."

Nominations

• Golden Globe Award for Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
• Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television (Tom Sizemore)
• Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special
  Primetime Emmy Award
  The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
  
  

External links

• Witness Protection at the Internet Movie Database