Under Suspicion (2000)

Director:

Stephen Hopkins

Writers (WGA):

John Wainwright (book)
Claude Miller (1981 screenplay Garde à vue) ...

Release Date:

2 June 2000 (Italy)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Everyone has secrets. Some of them are crimes.

Plot:

A lawyer is asked to come to the police station to clear up a few loose ends in his witness report of a foul murder...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Murder | Toupee | Speech | Interrogation

Awards:

1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Feb. 22

10:00 AM

BRAVO

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Gene Hackman	...	Henry Hearst
Morgan Freeman	...	Captain Victor Benezet
Thomas Jane	...	Detective Felix Owens
Monica Bellucci	...	Chantal Hearst
Nydia Caro	...	Isabella
Miguel Ángel Suárez	...	Superintendent
Pablo Cunqueiro	...	Detective Castillo
Isabel Algaze	...	Camille Rodriguez
Jacqueline Duprey	...	Maria Rodriguez
Luis Caballero	...	Paco Rodriguez
Patricia Beato	...	Darlita
Sahyly Yamile	...	Reina
Hector Travieso	...	Peter
Marisol Calero	...	Sergeant Arias
Vanessa Shenk	...	Sue Ellen Huddy

Also Known As:

Suspicion (France)
Third Degree (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content and language.

Runtime:

110 min | USA:111 min (TV)

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English | Italian | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | South Korea:15 | Iceland:12 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Chile:14 | France:U | Germany:12 | Ireland:18 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #37059)

Filming Locations:

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Company:

Revelations Entertainment

Trivia:

Stephen Hopkins wanted to cast Monica Bellucci after watching Malèna (2000) while on an overseas flight.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In Puerto Rico, 911 operators answer calls in Spanish, not English.

Quotes:

nm0000151 Capt. Victor Benezet: Go home. Put on a funny hat. Do whatever it is morons do.

Movie Connections:

Version of Garde à vue (1981)

Soundtrack:

Requiem

Compelling thriller stumbles before the finish line.

A film with Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman in the two main roles is a dream come true for anyone who loves the art of acting, and their performances here (especially Hackman's, who after all does have the more showy part) are stunning. Stephen Hopkins' direction is hip, inventive and unstagy (though it must be said that his "a person can physically visit someone else's flashbacks" trick had already been done three years earlier, in "The Ugly"), the dialogue is sharp, and the story is compelling. So what's wrong with this picture? You guessed it...the ending! Simply put, the ending is baffling and unbelievable, no matter how you try to "explain" it. This film closely resembles the 1994 French thriller "A Pure Formality", and the irony is that, although that was a much worse film overall, it had a genuine surprise at the end, while "Under Suspicion" has the kind of "surprise" that makes the whole film come off as one big red herring. (**1/2)