Suspect (1987)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Peter Yates

Writer:

Eric Roth (writer)

Release Date:

23 October 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

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

Plot:

A judge commits suicide, and his secretary is found murdered. A homeless deaf-mute man, Carl Anderson is arrested for her murder...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Suicide | Judge | Courtroom Drama | Deaf

Cast

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

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Netherlands:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | New Zealand:R13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Magder Studio, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

TriStar Pictures

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kathleen first realizes Carl is deaf and hands him a pen to write with, as she hands it to him and we are facing her it is top downwards in her hand, in the reverse shot it is top upwards with the cap on, as Carl takes the pen it is top upwards with the cap off.

Quotes:

Parking Lot Attendant: [Kathleen has broken into Elizabeth Quinn's car to find evidence] Hey, lady, what do you think you're doing?
Kathleen Riley: [caught off guard] I was her friend.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Reflections on Golden Pond (2003) (V)

Underrated Courtroom Drama Where the Homeless Meet the Political Elite

Anyone who thinks that the United States legal justice system is fair and balanced has been watching too many movies. The poor and the marginalized get convicted and the rich and elite drive away from the courthouse. It's largely a matter of the size of the pocketbook. And it's still amazing how many innocent people are locked away with almost no hope of getting out. "Suspect" is how about a how a homeless man (Liam Neesom) and his public defender (Cher) find themselves in a case that has much larger ramifications than a simple matter of did a homeless person murder the victim for $9.

The aspect that makes this movie a gem is the fine acting: Cher as the overworked and underpaid public defender, Liam Neeson as the deaf/mute defendant in one of his first major roles, Dennis Quaid as a sexy lobbyist (often messing around with congresswomen to get votes for his industry) turned juror turned amateur sleuth, and John Mahoney as the stoic judge at the trial. A lot of it is pure fantasy but the moments in the courtroom are actually very much like a real courtroom in its obsessiveness with procedure and protocol.

The story begins with the suicide of a prominent Supreme Court Justice and the subsequent murder of his assistant who has been slashed to death. When police investigate the surrounding area, they find a homeless man sporting a knife and in possession of the victim's wallet which contained a king's ransom: $9. Cher is appointed to take the case, and Quaid ends up becoming one of the jurors. Because of the suicide at the beginning of the film, Judge Helms (Mahoney) becomes one of the people on the US President's short list to fill the Supreme Court vacancy. Helms requests to preside over the murder case to free up his later schedule in order that he be considered for the vacancy.

Several scenes take us into the bowels of the homeless of Washington DC. We see a lot of lawyers, a lot of law libraries and a lot of knives. Every homeless person appears to wield a knife. Cher with the unlawful help of Quaid (lawyers and jurors in the same trial are not supposed to commiserate, let alone team up) stumbles upon some evidence that makes the case much more complex. A thoroughly enjoyable courtroom drama with enough action to keep you on the edge of your seat, and an interesting commentary on the justice system and how it handles the poor and the homeless. Unfortunately, public defenders are probably not as successful as Cher appears to be.