Suspect (1987)

A judge commits suicide, and his secretary is found murdered. A homeless deaf-mute man, Carl Anderson is arrested for her murder. Public defender Kathleen is assigned by the court as his ... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Yates

Writer:

Eric Roth

Stars:

Cher, Dennis Quaid, Liam Neeson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cher	...	Kathleen Riley
Dennis Quaid	...	Eddie Sanger
Liam Neeson	...	Carl Wayne Anderson
John Mahoney	...	Judge Matthew Bishop Helms
Joe Mantegna	...	Charlie Stella
Philip Bosco	...	Paul Gray
E. Katherine Kerr	...	Grace Comisky
Fred Melamed	...	Morty Rosenthal
Lisbeth Bartlett	...	Marilyn
Paul D'Amato	...	Michael
Bernie McInerney	...	Walter
Thomas Barbour	...	Justice Lowell
Katie O'Hare	...	Elizabeth Quinn
Rosemary Knower	...	Justice Lowell's Secretary
Aaron Schwartz	...	Forensic Pathologist

Storyline

A judge commits suicide, and his secretary is found murdered. A homeless deaf-mute man, Carl Anderson is arrested for her murder. Public defender Kathleen is assigned by the court as his lawyer. She sets to find the real killer, and gets help from the congressional advisor, Eddie Sanger who is called to be on the jury panel. Together they discover a dangerous circle of corruption in high places.

---

Plot Keywords:

suicide | judge | murder | jury | deaf mute | 

---

Taglines:

No matter the cost, No matter the danger. They will find the truth.

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 October 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sob Suspeita

Filming Locations:

Magder Studio, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Gross:

$18,782,400 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, ML Delphi Premier Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Liam Neeson lived in a Washington D.C. homeless shelter for two days to prepare for his role.

---

Goofs

At 1:23 into the movie, when she is checking keys against file cabinets at the Justice dept., the key won't fit into one of the file cabinets, then the key fits the very next one. This is minor but would not happen. Since the file cabinets are identical, they key would at least FIT the lock (though it wouldn't turn the lock mechanism) unless it were the correct key. For example....all Master Lock keys (of the same sort) will fit the intended item perfectly - it just won't unlock it unless the tumblers match.

---

Quotes

Kathleen Riley: I spend all of my day with murders and rapists, and what's really crazy, I like them.

---

Connections

Referenced in Reflections on Golden Pond (2003)

User Reviews

such a terrific film

i have just re-watched this film, maybe the 5th time since its release. What a treat!Smart, sexy,dynamic and compelling, socially relevant, with a good moral backbone.All the actors are spot-on. Cher easily convinces us of her serious attorney's commitment to helping society's outcasts;Liam Neeson in his first film role as the silent hulking Viet-vet street person accused of murder; Dennis Quaid at his cocky best as a razor-sharp lobbyist/juror, and John Mahoney and Philip Bosco. The screenplay ,directing and editing are all first rate.And if you pay attention, you can learn a lot about the inner workings of our government's congressional/lobbyist bedfellows and the scary fallibility of our justice system and its judges and lawyers. Some may think this is a piece of romance disguised as a get-into-your subconscious morality play, but i think it's just the opposite. How many films have you seen that convincingly made you put yourself into a street person's shoes and think about your attitudes towards them? I usually am close to agreeing with the IMDb average vote on a film, but not this time. For me, this is a real 10.