Game of Fear

The idea behind "Reasonable Doubt" is a pretty nifty one, (a young, hotshot prosecutor is involved in a hit-and-run and then finds himself prosecuting another man accused of the crime, and that's just the beginning of his problems), and to be fair what follows does make for a moderately exciting, if a nevertheless, preposterous thriller. (It also helps that Samuel L Jackson is involved). But while the initial idea may be good, the script is atrocious and Dominic Cooper's performance as the prosecutor is way off the mark; he just seems to be going through the motions and his character is impossible to take seriously. Nor does director Peter Howitt, (credited as Peter P Croudins) show any flair or apparent interest in the material. It's watchable in that of made-for-TV-movie kind of way but it could have been so much more.

Dominic Cooper plays Mitch Brockden, a brilliant young Assistant D.A. in Chicago who unwittingly finds himself intertwined in a cat-mouse game with Clinton Davis, played by Samuel Jackson.

If you're just looking for a fairly standard legal-suspense thriller, this one should do. Decent acting and vivid cinematography help to cover over the various inconsistencies in the plot, which, though it has a few unexpected flourishes, is otherwise right off the old cutting board. There's not much in the way of subtlety or food for speculation: Everything is explained neatly away in the dialogue. Some surprises here and there, but REASONABLE DOUBT ends up pretty much the way you probably think it will. A number of people were obviously more impressed by this film than I was, but then again, a number of others obviously weren't. Oh well, REASONABLE DOUBT kept my attention, and I made it to the end without any problem.

There seems to be a trend in 'straight to DVD' movies these days... it involves getting an A-list star's face on all its promotional material and basically marketing it as if they're in it all the way through. In the case of 'Reasonable Doubt' you may have noticed Samuel L Jackson's foreboding face glaring at you from the posters. Yes, he is in it. No, he's not in it as much as most people would probably like.

It's about a District Attorney (who's definitely NOT Samuel L Jackson) who, while driving home drunk, runs over a man and then leaves him for dead. Later he discovers that Samuel L Jackson has been charged with the crime and so our tipsy lawyer must search his soul as to whether or not to let Sam take the fall. There are a few more plot points which I won't go into, as they will give away the 'twists and turns' that are involved.

Regarding the 'twists and turns' – you may see some of them coming and you may not believe the others. There are a few moments in the film where you really do have to 'suspend your disbelief' to actually carry on watching. Just enjoy Sam's performance and don't think too much about the gaps in logic.

Basically, 'Reasonable Doubt' is an okay film. If you like thrillers you can certainly do worse. It's one of those films that, if you stumble across it on TV late at night, it's worth watching. However, you probably might feel a little cheated if you paid full price to buy it on Blu-ray, especially as Samuel L Jackson isn't in it as much as most people would probably like.

Best to watch/rent first before you buy.

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The acting was good and storyline decent, unfortunately the music was way too loud and clunky and drowned out parts of the movie. It reminded me of when you see a singer who is not really confident and they just let their band run all over them and their singing is drowning in it. The quality of tje music wasn't very good either. It lacked instrumentation and sounded like a music producer friend of mine sitting in front of his computer and testing beats in an obnoxious way, not something that would make it to a movie Some one needed to ride rough shod over this music department because the music should add to the action, accentuate and support the scene, This movie could be several points better if the music were redone.

...everybody got their paychecks who were involved in the movie and what we audiences get is a mediocre effort from the people involved, and a preposterous storyline which they want us to believe is possible.

another run of the mill whodunit, but in my opinion cannot happen in the real world and thought about turning it off about a 1/3 of the way through. the only saving grace was that the actors were likable and helped in me finishing the movie.

it felt like one of those cop or lawyer shows that is on TV but the production was a lot better. the story is about an up and coming lawyer, played by Dominic Cooper who goes with a couple of lawyer buddies from the same firm on a drinking binge. they separate afterwards and the main protagonist instead of taking a cab, jumps into his suv, starts the car, steps on the gas and immediately runs over somebody. this all happens in a dimmly lit area close to the bar. he gets out of the suv and checks on the guy he ran over. he winds up making the wrong decision, and instead of calling from his cell-phone he runs a few yards to a payphone to call an ambulance so the call cannot be traced back to his cellphone. he goes to the guy hes just run over and tells him an ambulance is on the way. the victim can see that the young lawyer is about to leave and begs him not to, in doing so he grabs him by the front and his wallet falls out, with business cards flying everywhere. the lawyer thinks hes picked up everything and leaves.

what happens after is so preposterous and unbelievable that i wanted to laugh in a lot of spots...but all in all, i have watched a lot worse movies then this. could have been a pretty good movie but just falls flat and it is very very predictable. no one acting performance stood out and a very average movie based on the ratings that it received. i would rate this movie a 5.5 out of 10, if you can't find another movie that you want to watch then try this. it is definitely not a first or second option movie.