The Suspect

A perfect start to a film is watching landscapes and the introduction to a venue, while listening to a radio updating you. In seconds you are put into the situation. A small town has just experienced a bank robbery. And a sheriff of a completely white small town leaves the police car to start an interrogation of a black man which is suspected of the robbery. Simply great, and a great start of the film.

I like a film that is different, and this is very original both in the storytelling and in the plot. I was engaged in the story all the way through, though it's a little bit confusing. There's even some flash backs to help you understand. By no way perfect, but still interesting and engaging. On a large budget this would have potential to be a large hit.

William Sadler is great as the sheriff, as is Mekhi Phifer as the suspect. It's a low budget production but they have made the best out of it. Talented film making by first time offender Stuart Connelly! Go see it!

Some of us while watching a film, look for unpredictability, and on my opinion 95 per cent of the movies are about the same, crime with a cliché, zombie with a cliché, etc... with a cliché, and when you find an argument that is telling you nothing, I mean teasing you with the same question: "What is really happening here?" and then immerse and interest you without giving a real clue, that's what I CALL A GOOD ONE!

I came into "The suspect" waiting for something that would turn off my attention within fifteen minutes, instead, after an hour or so, I was with eyes glued to the screen, no blood, no shootings, no CGI, but a story, not build in great suspense, but properly elaborated, and I wondered how come movies like this fall into the great pit of indifference... because most moviegoers are lazy and dumb? The acting is good, at moments like watching live theater, more interestingly the plot takes a turn as if Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad) had something to do with it.

The writer and director's name is STUART CONELLY and hopefully his work catches the attention of a TV network, or a big movie studio, because frankly, we need more intelligent movies like "THE SUSPECT"

My recommendation is: watch this movie of you are looking for a smart and twisted ending! And as always no spoilers in here.

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.

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.

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.