Suspect - Unter Verdacht

Fine courtroom drama which appears to be about a small change murder involving a pair of street people. But is it? An attorney takes on the case and begins digging deep into the case when evidence turns up that suggests the culprit may have connections other than with simple street bums. Interesting and exciting, though improbable.

Cher plays the role of a dedicated public defender who is given a case just as she is about to collapse from overwork. The poor guy has been living on the street for years and is accused of killing a young woman for a lousy $9. He won't talk to police and Cher has to draw him out before she can even begin to find some way to defend him. There are several well planned surprises and I never had the feeling any of the cast were "acting". This is one movie that had me fooled as to who the real culprit was right to the end. I like that! If I can guess the outcome halfway through the movie it is a turn off and total disappointment to me. Seven stars is high for me. It takes a "Lawrence of Arabia" or "Gone with the Wind" to get 10 stars from me.

The highlight of this movie for me was a wonderful performance from Cher. She was playing the part of Kathleen Riley, a public defender who gets caught up in more than she bargained for when she takes on the case of a homeless man accused of murdering a 24 year old woman. The case is a lot more complicated than that, and the story keeps viewers on their toes. We're quite sure that Carl (the homeless man played by Liam Neeson) did not kill the young woman. The question is - who did? And why? The movie disorients right off the top, beginning with a Supreme Court justice committing suicide. But them that seems to disappear. But surely it's connected? Basically, we settle into a waiting game, as we look for the connection.

The movie settles down for a while into a pretty standard courtroom drama, and Cher (and Joe Mantegna as the prosecutor) are quite credible in their courtroom activity. Another twist is added to the story by Kathleen's growing involvement with juror Eddie (Dennis Quaid) - a congressional lobbyist who gets involved surreptitiously in helping to build the case for the defense. Quaid was also very good in his part, as was John Mahoney as the presiding judge. There really were no weaknesses in among the cast. I have to give real credit to Neeson. As Carl he did a magnificent job, especially given that he was playing a character who was both deaf and mute. His entire performance had to be conducted without voice, and he was very convincing. The whole thing builds up to a surprising courtroom twist that would have done Perry Mason proud, and that I didn't see coming at all.

My basic criticism of the movie is that it tries perhaps too hard to keep the viewer off balance. So many layers are added on that there is a temptation every now and then to drift away, because it's hard to keep everything straight. But in the end, when all the pieces are put together and that dramatic twist comes, you're glad you stuck with this. (7/10)

Anyone who thinks that the United States legal justice system is fair and balanced has been watching too many movies. The poor and the marginalized get convicted and the rich and elite drive away from the courthouse. It's largely a matter of the size of the pocketbook. And it's still amazing how many innocent people are locked away with almost no hope of getting out. "Suspect" is how about a how a homeless man (Liam Neesom) and his public defender (Cher) find themselves in a case that has much larger ramifications than a simple matter of did a homeless person murder the victim for $9.

The aspect that makes this movie a gem is the fine acting: Cher as the overworked and underpaid public defender, Liam Neeson as the deaf/mute defendant in one of his first major roles, Dennis Quaid as a sexy lobbyist (often messing around with congresswomen to get votes for his industry) turned juror turned amateur sleuth, and John Mahoney as the stoic judge at the trial. A lot of it is pure fantasy but the moments in the courtroom are actually very much like a real courtroom in its obsessiveness with procedure and protocol.

The story begins with the suicide of a prominent Supreme Court Justice and the subsequent murder of his assistant who has been slashed to death. When police investigate the surrounding area, they find a homeless man sporting a knife and in possession of the victim's wallet which contained a king's ransom: $9. Cher is appointed to take the case, and Quaid ends up becoming one of the jurors. Because of the suicide at the beginning of the film, Judge Helms (Mahoney) becomes one of the people on the US President's short list to fill the Supreme Court vacancy. Helms requests to preside over the murder case to free up his later schedule in order that he be considered for the vacancy.

Several scenes take us into the bowels of the homeless of Washington DC. We see a lot of lawyers, a lot of law libraries and a lot of knives. Every homeless person appears to wield a knife. Cher with the unlawful help of Quaid (lawyers and jurors in the same trial are not supposed to commiserate, let alone team up) stumbles upon some evidence that makes the case much more complex. A thoroughly enjoyable courtroom drama with enough action to keep you on the edge of your seat, and an interesting commentary on the justice system and how it handles the poor and the homeless. Unfortunately, public defenders are probably not as successful as Cher appears to be.

When a deaf-mute homeless man is accused of murdering a federal worker in Washington DC, the public defender assigned to the case assumes he is guilty--until she begins to receive tips about the case from the most unlikely of sources: a member of the jury seated for the trial.

Any one even remotely conversant with the law will find the story so full of loopholes that it is more than a little ridiculous, but it scarcely matters: the cast carries it off in fine style, playing the script with exceptional precision and poise and generating plenty of suspense along the way. Cher is particularly noteworthy as the public defender assigned to the case.

Cher? Playing a Washington D.C. attorney? It's hardly typecasting, but once more Cher demonstrates the depth of her talent: not only is she extremely effective, she is completely believable. The same might be said for both Liam Neeson, who plays the deaf-mute on trial, and Dennis Quaid, who plays the smarmy juror who begins to put two and two together; SUSPECT is clearly Cher's picture, but her co-stars are every bit as good as she.

Although it has its share of courtroom pyrotechnics and suspenseful moments, SUSPECT is a surprisingly low-key and all the more successful for it. When all is said and done we like the characters as people, believe in them, and are glad we met them. While it will never compete with the likes of Hitchcock, SUSPECT is a good, solid, and very unpretentious courtroom thriller executed with a great deal of style. Those whose tastes run in that direction will be very pleased indeed. Recommended.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer