Shadow of Doubt

Huey Lewis caught my attention in this movie. His high-tech detective was fun. The rest was fairly predictable. The production values kept it from sinking too low into obscurity. The houses were certainly a large part of the film and should have gotten credits.

Not every actor was meant to play every role. Richard Gere, for example, was ideal as a high-profile, hotshot lawyer in "Primal Fear"; Melanie Griffith plays the female version of more or less the exact same role here, and she makes a valiant try, but the result is just posing, not acting. The film is watchable, thanks mostly to good direction by Randal Kleiser, who gives it the look and feel of a picture destined for theatrical release, even though it barely got any. But it is weakly plotted, and relies on all sorts of contrivances to move along (criminals who are carelessly spilling their guts out about crimes they committed, etc.). And what's worse, it doesn't play fair with the audience; the resolution is based on clues we had no way of knowing about. At least Tom Berenger proves that he is still a dependable actor. (**)

Or, more precise, result of good intentions. because it is a proof of decent try from director, actors and scriptwriter to give a reasonable thriller. but the web is too large and too obscure. and the resemblance with many others films, better films, is not a virtue in this case. but , the different pieces from puzzle are enough for a not bad result. Melanie Griffith knows use an old recipe for a conventional character, Tom Berger is a not real bad choice for his role and Nina Foch is an inspired choice for Sylvia Saxon. the only obvious mistake remains Craig Sheffer, in a role who seems be only a poor ornament for a too rich Christmas tree.

Who'd have thought that Huey Lewis would have turned out to be a pretty good actor? The supporting cast of this film really hold this movie together, under Melanie Griffith's lead. Tom Berenger gives a great performance as the ambitious DA, and some of the best moments of the film are his scenes with Melanie Griffith. Overall,

I think the writers tried too hard with some of the dialogue, but the movie has enough twists and turns and a surprise ending that will keep you thinking past the movie's ending.

This is a decent legal suspense/thriller, if you can accept sweet little Melanie Griffiths as a kick-ass sex-crime lawyer, which she pulled off pretty well. She has to juggle returned perverts from the past with perverts from the present, and althought the plot isn't mind-boggling it's fine if you aren't expecting the world. It might be the equal of Copycat with Sigournay Weaver.