Under Suspicion

Starring:Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Monica Bellucci, Nydia Caro (II), Miguel Ãngel SuÃ¡rez, Pablo Cunqueiro, Isabel Algaze, Jacqueline Duprey, Luis Caballero, Patricia Beato, Sahyly Yamile, Hector Travieso, Marisol Calero, Vanessa Shenk, Gelian Cotto, Myron Herrick, Vanesa MillÃ¡n, Zina Ponder Pistor, Willie Denton
Director: Stephen Hopkins
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman star in this suspense-filled tale of interrogation--less of a whodunit than a didhedoit. Freeman plays Victor Benezet, a police captain investigating the murder of a child, and Hackman is Henry Hearst, a prominent lawyer and pillar of the community who also happens to be the prime suspect. Benezet and Hearst have a history together, and Benezet is torn between showing deference for an old friend and prominent community figure and ruthlessly pursuing a man he believes to be a child murderer. Director Stephen Hopkins spins multiple versions of the same events, popping details in and out as Hearst's story changes. Hopkins also uses the unusual and satisfying technique of juxtaposing the interview room with other locations, allowing Benezet to "follow" Hearst through his movements as he questions him. Under Suspicion also serves up the delicious eye candy of Puerto Rico during the St. Sebastian festival, but the real treat is getting to watch two masters like Hackman and Freeman square off. --Ali Davis

Customer Reviews:

Good...but the end.......2007-06-11

The movie was actually very promising until the end. Pedophilia was treated almost lightly and there were some unnecessary and very disturbing discussions and details thrown in which really can be very traumatizing to those who have had experience in the area or who have children.

The end was very disappointing and just kind of dropped off. The fact that the wife almost appeared to run back to him and be sorry at the end was very creepy considering the things that he admitted to and she witnessed. That blew it for me.

A Superb Film With Unexpected Twists and Turns.......2007-02-13

It is difficult to review this film without including spoilers. Best to see it for yourself. The acting, as one would expect, is super. It is of the "Sleuth" and "Rope" school but better than either in my opinion.

BELOW THE RADAR.......2007-02-04

The title foreshadows the subtle reality behind the film, missed even by some professional critics. Hackman plays Henry Hearst, a noted attorney, and rather well-off, to say the least, and a close friend of police Captain, Victor Benezet, played by Morgan Freeman. Hearst's much, much, younger wife, Chantal, is the erotically, gorgeous, Italian star, Monica Bellucci. Thomas Jane plays a not-so-bright, detective, with a desire for violent solutions to gaining a confession. Hearst, is apparently, incredibly wealthy, and on his way to be the be key note speaker at an event at the request of Captain Benezet's boss, when he is asked by Benezet to stop by headquaters for "ten minutes, or so," to help out with the case of two murdered teenage girls.

Ten minutes stretches into hours and a cat and mouse game between the obviously brilliant lawyer, Hearst, and the cagy, Benezet, ensues. Benezet has his pal squirming, and Hearst's gorgeous wife has shut him out of her affections, over what she saw as his attempts to seduce her teenaged niece, so the introduction of Benezet's evidence of Hearst's possible dallaince and murders of girls about the same age as the niece who is object of Chantal's apparent insecurity, (or was it an excuse (?) for her to rebel against, or reject, her older husband), gives her cause for reflection. As the torturous grilling goes on, the stress on the participents becomes almost unbearable. Hearst and Benezet are featured in innovative flashbacks of the sort one sees regularly on CSI Miami, and as the tension builds, tempers flare, violence seems right around the corner, and one wonders, where is the lawyer's, lawyers(?), as the duel works it's deceptions into the psyche of the suspect, witnesses and Interrogators.

Hearst's guilt/innocence, glides back and forth with every new revelation of each member of the drama. I shall not spoil, the conclusion for you, but the acting, direction, script, and settings are flawless and the ending is somewhat unexpected, though we guessed correctly, our companions did not.

What floated under the radar, hence my title, was the lustfull envy of both Benezet and the young, violence prone, detective at Hearst's wealth, position, intellect, possessions, prominently including his luscious and much younger wife, Bellucci as Chantal. One can see the roiling covetousness of the antagonists of Hearst, and the feeling rises, that one sees so often now days, of a lawman making every effort to nail a wealthy and fortunate man, at the expense of justice. Benezet, seems determined to wreck the rest of Hearst's life to satisfy his jealousy and his young assistant seems to care little about anything but throwing a few punches and maybe getting closer to Chantal, also Benezet's, seeming, but more reserved desire. Mankind's error is that the interpretation of the word "covet" does nor merely mean desiring what another has, but acting maliciously upon that desire, to steal it away, whether or not they benefit from their action.

It is the old case of penis, cash and prominence, envy, of men locked in jobs which pay is nominal, who lust after what they cannot have and another, whose grass may not be as green as they think and desire.

You cannot go wrong with Freeman, Hackman, and Stephen Hopkins masterful direction, exposing lust, uncertainty, disloyalty, distrust, immaturity and envy. Watch Hackman, in the final scene, display his self-respect, despite what must have been a heartbreaking realization.

The dessert is that even the measured glimpses of the alluring Monica Bellucci, remind one of all besides the art, the food and land/sea scapes, that is good about Italy.

Under Suspicion.......2006-08-30

Don't pass up the opportunity to see this movie! Easily one of the best movies I've seen - and surprisingly unknown. Factor in the talents of Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman, a fantastic story that gets more complex and interesting with each scene, and an incredibly original way of transporting you right into the story and you have a movie that should have been far more popular than it was. See this movie and be a hero to everyone you recomend it to later.

Brilliant acting of Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman.......2006-03-16

I bought "Under Suspicion" in the first place because it is with Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman, both favorite actors of mine. They both give a great performance but on the whole I was a bit disappointed in the movie. The plot drags along somehow maybe because there is not much suspense or action and the ending is predictable. There are no scenes which touch on human emotions and the characters are not very likeable. But it is worth watching just for the acting of Freeman and Hackman. Both actors are brilliant and sure made the best out of their roles. The theme is nothing new. For me it was a bit strange that a character like the one Gene Hackman is playing couldn't hold out such an interrogation without getting completely confused and disconcerted about what had really happened. But who knows? No one can hold out indefinitely. There is probably a limit for everyone. But if you like Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman you definitely have to see this movie just because of their acting is brilliant, no matter whether you like the story or not.

Average customer rating:

Tight, quick-paced drama
Great little sleeper
Murder Tricks
Five Stars Are Not Enough
A Great Whodunit

Under Suspicion
Starring: Liam Neeson , Kenneth Cranham , Maggie O'Neill , Alan Talbot , and Malcolm Storry
Director: Simon Moore
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000056HP1
Release Date: 2003-09-02

Description

In 1959 Brighton, disgraced cop turned P.I. Tony Aaron falsifies adulteries for use as evidence in divorce cases. His wife pretends to be painter Carlo Stasio's lover but the pair are killed in a hotel room. The most likely suspects are Angeline, Stasio's mistress who is set to inherit his house and pictures, and Tony himself, whose story doesn't seem to add up. Starring Academy Award-nominee Liam Neeson (1993 Best Actor in a Leading Role, Schindler's List) and Laura San Giacomo (TV's "Just Shoot Me").

Customer Reviews:

Tight, quick-paced drama.......2006-11-10

Liam Neeson plays a sleazeball photographer/detective who with his wife arranges fake assignations in hotel rooms for divorce purposes, until one day the client and Neeson's wife are killed. Out of this develops a very taut and charged suspense movie that features a number of plot twists (just when you think you might have it figured out, it goes off in another direction), though often the finger of guilt comes back to point at Neeson again and again. The climax is a real nail-biter and will definitely keep everyone watching. The acting by the principals is strong and convincing, and although the story might be just a tad too convoluted in places, it never becomes totally unbelievable or confusing. It's a neat little crime drama, well worth a watch.

Great little sleeper.......2005-12-31

I finally got around to watching this movie last night, and I have to say it was really a lot of fun. It is set in England, and is actually filmed there as well (instead of, say, Toronto). It covers two time periods, one older and one current, and sets up a very compelling murder mystery. You won't see the end coming, and yet you'll totally believe it when you see it. That's a combination that is very difficult to pull off.

It looks like a typical low-budget, late-night movie, but it really comes through. Give it a try if you like mystery thrillers. My guess is you'll be as pleasantly surprised by it as I was.

Murder Tricks.......2005-10-11

I liked Liam Neeson in this part, he played it very well. The ending was a complete surprise for me.

Five Stars Are Not Enough.......2005-03-27

This is a superb thriller in every sense of the word. The suspense builds throughout and the ending is one of the best ever done. The story takes place in England in the 1950's-1960, when strict divorce laws required proof of adultery, which often was manufactured. Neeson is a cop who was forced out of the police department; we witness the reasdon why as the film begins. He establishes a new life as a seedy detective instrumental in photographing evidence for divorcing couples.

The acting is great, the plot terrific. Totally entertaining. Has the same sort of tension as "Body Heat" and until the end, one is never sure what really happened. Highly recommended.

A Great Whodunit.......2004-06-19

This is an excellent movie featuring actors who've become much more well known since they made this one. Liam Neeson's hard-luck private eye is an extremely sympathetic character who really is played for the patsy. He knows he's getting screwed all along, but can't seem to do anything about it. The ending is satisfying and make the movie. Don't miss it!

Average customer rating:

Wives Under Suspicion: the Alpha DVD transfer
highly satisfying programmer

Wives Under Suspicion
Starring: Cecil Cunningham , James Flavin , Jonathan Hale , Samuel S. Hinds , and William Lundigan
Director: James Whale
Manufacturer: Alpha Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000MV9OI6
Release Date: 2007-03-27

Product Description

A district attorney who believes all killers should get the electric chair is driven by jealousy to plot his wife's murder.

Customer Reviews:

Wives Under Suspicion: the Alpha DVD transfer.......2007-07-02

"Wives Under Suspicion" (1938) tells the story of a district attorney who, while working on a case involving the murder of adulterous wife, starts to wonder about the state of his own marriage. The central roles are effectively taken by Warren William and Gail Patrick, but what really catches the eye is the work of the director, James Whale. The movie is full of characteristic Whale touches: quick cuts and zooms, dramatic juxtapositions, startling camera angles (at one crisis the protagonist is suddenly shown in a very high overhead shot), macabre details (an abacus in which the counters are miniature skulls), and little private jokes for those in the know (at one point a minor character idly whistles a quote from Gail Patrick's previous film).

Whale had filmed the story in 1933 as "The Kiss Before the Mirror", and virtually all experts prefer the original to the remake. "Kiss" has a pictorial beauty and a depth of casting (the very first voice heard in it is Walter Pidgeon's!) that the more cheaply made B-movie "Wives" naturally can't match. Moreover, "Wives" came after the introduction of the 1934 Production Code, and this really did pose problems for a story revolving largely around issues of adultery. The plot had to be drastically diluted and most of the dialog rewritten. The word "lover" occurs repeatedly in "Kiss" but not at all in "Wives"; "breast" in "Kiss" becomes "neck and shoulders" in "Wives"; etc., etc.

Both of us nevertheless prefer "Wives" to "Kiss", partly because the later film devotes more detailed attention to the attorney's marriage, and partly because we find Gail Patrick's performance in "Wives" less histrionic than Nancy Carroll's in "Kiss". However, the weight of informed opinion is overwhelmingly against us. Perhaps it would be wisest merely to suggest that each movie can be enjoyed for its own distinctive merits, without making invidious comparisons or pining for strengths that it may not possess.

Alpha Video's DVD transfer needs to be approached with caution (hence our 3 stars). The picture is soft and has a markedly limited tonal range (from light gray to medium dark gray), though all details of the action can still be seen clearly. Margins are significantly cropped (presumably the transfer was made from a 16mm reduction positive). Dialog is easily audible, but tends to be somewhat out of sync with the characters' lip movements. And at one dramatically crucial moment there's a tiny bit of film missing -- only a second or so, and it won't prevent you from following the movie, but it's a pity to lose anything at such a point.

Still, "Wives" is unlikely to receive a proper restoration from any major company. It's a little-known B movie with no cult following; it has no famous stars; and, as we've already noted, when the critics mention it at all, they tend to speak mainly of its inferiority to its predecessor. There's no money in restoring such a film. So the Alpha transfer, with all its problems, may be about as good as we're likely to get.

highly satisfying programmer.......2007-04-22

Rewatching GODS AND MONSTERS led to my rewatching other films directed by James Whale. On the heels of the two FRANKENSTEIN classics, this programmer holds up nicely. In their context, I'm tempted to give this one four stars but, on its own terms within a familiar genre of the period, WIVES UNDER SUSPICION dodges many cliches and comes through with intelligence and professionally impressive performances.

Some grad student may devote a term paper to Whale's use of men's hats as a running motif. And the comic relief of the maid merits cautionary praise for the handling of racist strains in the script. But over all the movie is a pleasure that toys with a hubris-drenched plot with mature conviction.

The murderer on trial repeats his "kiss in the mirror" story several times, perhaps because audiences didn't feel obliged to enter a movie only at the start of the picture until Hitchcock's PSYCHO changed how we view movies in public. But the George Morgan's reading is reminiscent of the credibility in the blind saint's performance in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, bringing a deserved pathos to the film as a whole.

Williams is most charming when he doesn't try to be: the Barrymore leer is happily less present here. And Whale's direction is excellent without calling undue attention to his narrative devices. Gail Patrick, William Lundigan, Cecil Cunningham, and Jonathan Hinds all do fine in the well reproduced Alpha DVD.

Average customer rating:

Good...but the end
A Superb Film With Unexpected Twists and Turns
BELOW THE RADAR
Under Suspicion
Brilliant acting of Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman

Under Suspicion [Region 2]
Starring: Gene Hackman , Morgan Freeman , Thomas Jane , Monica Bellucci , and Nydia Caro (II)
Director: Stephen Hopkins
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Customer Reviews:

Good...but the end.......2007-06-11

A Superb Film With Unexpected Twists and Turns.......2007-02-13

BELOW THE RADAR.......2007-02-04

Under Suspicion.......2006-08-30

Brilliant acting of Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman.......2006-03-16

Average customer rating:

Good...but the end
A Superb Film With Unexpected Twists and Turns
BELOW THE RADAR
Under Suspicion
Brilliant acting of Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman

Under Suspicion [Region 2]
Starring: Gene Hackman , Morgan Freeman , Thomas Jane , Monica Bellucci , and Nydia Caro (II)
Director: Stephen Hopkins
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Customer Reviews:

Good...but the end.......2007-06-11

A Superb Film With Unexpected Twists and Turns.......2007-02-13

BELOW THE RADAR.......2007-02-04

Under Suspicion.......2006-08-30

Brilliant acting of Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman.......2006-03-16

American Justice - Under Suspicion: The Catherine Shelton Case

Average customer rating:

American Justice - Under Suspicion: The Catherine Shelton Case
Starring: Catherine Shelton
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Average customer rating:

Good...but the end
A Superb Film With Unexpected Twists and Turns
BELOW THE RADAR
Under Suspicion
Brilliant acting of Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman

Under Suspicion [Region 2]
Starring: Gene Hackman , Morgan Freeman , Thomas Jane , Monica Bellucci , and Nydia Caro (II)
Director: Stephen Hopkins
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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Customer Reviews:

Good...but the end.......2007-06-11

A Superb Film With Unexpected Twists and Turns.......2007-02-13

BELOW THE RADAR.......2007-02-04

Under Suspicion.......2006-08-30

Brilliant acting of Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman.......2006-03-16

Average customer rating:

Good...but the end
A Superb Film With Unexpected Twists and Turns
BELOW THE RADAR
Under Suspicion
Brilliant acting of Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman

Under Suspicion [Region 2]
Starring: Gene Hackman , Morgan Freeman , Thomas Jane , Monica Bellucci , and Nydia Caro (II)
Director: Stephen Hopkins
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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( U ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video