The Suspect

The Suspect is one of the movies that has intriguing hook right from the start. It shrewdly fiddles with the timeline back and forth, giving just enough information as it goes and revealing timely revelations later on. Whereas other thrillers might offer aggressive approach, The Suspect bids its time with apt performance by its cast along with the premise of social manipulation.

A sheriff in small town arrests a man after bank robbery. This particular suspect only has one identifiable feature that allegedly implicates him, his dark skin. Since it's the farthest thing from CSI, the sheriff must determine if this suspect is indeed the felon. The strange dynamic concept spirals further as there are a lot of questions concerning his behavior, which might not be so accommodating. The movie's biggest strength is its social and psychological aspects, these are easily identifiable to audience as well as meticulously scripted.

Acting is fine, with the cast looking beyond their stereotypical roles as they try to outwit each other. Cinematography isn't grandiose as the movie sets almost entirely in rural town. In fact it's exclusively shot only in a few major sets and the rest is ordinary road or outdoor. This is made cleverly into an advantage since the movie probably wouldn't work with bolder setting. The camera-work itself is good, opting more for precision than flair.

The change in pace flows adequately well with smart script to guide it. Some scenes pique curiosity while a few others are surprisingly humorous. One drawback from this shifting pace is it can be confusing at times, also towards the end the narration is slightly heavy-handed. The development could be smoother as some of the scenes may be foreshadowing. Nevertheless, the movie maintains a balanced focus through its run time.

The Suspect is a different type of thriller, it delivers an alternative and restrained story. If this is a book, which we should never judge by its cover, it would be a pop-up book due to series of trickery it has stored inside.

Good Movie story line, well acted.

To Bad whomever was in charge of costumes, didn't bother with checking some of the props that were used on the uniforms of the Officers... the Sheriff had both a PFC and a Spc4 insignias on his uniform and all the officers were displaying multiple rank insignias of Private, corporal or Sergeant ranks at the same time. Noticed the insignia for Artillery on one shoulder panel and the Sheriff had infantry insignia on his breast pocket. Jeesh any military person could have advised them better than the person they had handling wardrobe.

Other that that, not a bad movie..

Refreshingly different thriller that although shot on a budget is well edited, shot and contains some great acting.

I must admit that initially I was not that impressed but as you watch more the plot evolves and the characters start to make an impact. There is some great editing that really pieces together the story, yes maybe the redneck police are a little one sided but situations like this are believable. Without saying too much it's a great scam!

The two key actors (cop and bank robber) deliver great performances and the twist at the end is unexpected till the last minute. Well worth your time and deserves at least a 7.

I think the description of the movie may have thrown me off a little bit, because I was expecting the events to turn out differently, and the lead characters to be different.

I must say, when the experiment that is the movie's plot goes wrong and the goals of the experiment start to reveal itself, it made for an interesting roller-coaster of events done in a very low key matter, and very well.

It's funny, the movie tries to be cleaver and show you that things are not what they seem, but it messes up somewhere and the movie falls victim of the point it was trying to make, and as a result does not make it at all.

the summary made me feel that it was trying to speak out against prejudice, but I felt everyone in the film just got stereotyped.

I don't know if the filmmaker intended to do this or realized what he was doing, but if that's not the case he may want to strangle the man who promoted this film. It's a good film if you can take race out of the equation, I couldn't.

This film has merits and problems, both, but in the end, it keeps your attention and makes you care about the characters and how the story is going to end.

The acting is pretty solid and the pace is lean and appropriate.

So it succeeds at a basic level.

AND the subject matter is thought-provoking. This reviewer found himself looking at situations and behaviour with a keen eye toward subtext and meaning. I can't say more without spoiling it.

As other reviewers have said, this is best viewed with a minimal or no previous understanding of the plot. Just enjoy the ride.