Eyewitness

Eyewitness (released in the UK as The Janitor) is a 1981 American neo-noir thriller film produced and directed by Peter Yates and written by Steve Tesich. It stars William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Christopher Plummer, and James Woods. The story involves a television news reporter and a janitor who team to solve a murder. Plot New York City janitor Daryll Deever is an avid fan of television news reporter Toni Sokolow. Another janitor, Aldo, is fired from the same office building Daryll works at after a confrontation with Mr. Long, a wealthy Vietnamese man suspected of criminal connections. Trying to have Aldo reinstated, Daryll talks to Mr. Long. However, he quickly realizes that Aldo was fired for being disrespectful, most probably because of the xenophobic sentiments he developed while fighting in the Vietnam war. One night, Daryll notices that Mr. Long has been strangled to death. Looking for the killer, the police suspects of Aldo but also of Daryll, who fought in Vietnam as well and was the first to find the body. Aldo lies to the police about where he was that night and later shows up with more money than he ever had. Because of all of this, Daryll is sure Aldo killed Long. Meanwhile, Toni believes Deever knows something about the crime. She keeps after him for information, a pursuit Daryll allows because he is romantically interested in Toni. The two start meeting regularly and soon develop feelings for each other. One night, before one of their "dates", Long's Vietnamese associates attempt to kidnap her to know how much she has learned about their organization. To escape them, Toni manages to jump out of their car and onto the street, where Daryll picks her up in his motorcycle. At Daryll's place, he takes care of her wounds, and the two eventually sleep together. Aldo is later revealed to be innocent of the murder; he lied to the police because he was secretly dealing with loansharks from two different sides of town. From them, he got two huge loans to start a business with Daryll, who refuses to be involved. Worried about Aldo's life, Daryll tells him to return the money. Meanwhile, Joseph, Toni's fiancé, also suspects Daryll knows more than he lets on. One night, he attempts to kill Daryll by strangling him. However, Joseph fails this time and is forced to flee. He turns out to be the actual murderer of Mr. Long, whose organization was helping Joseph smuggle out Jews from the Soviet Union. When Mr.