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Suspect (1987)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
9/21
9/21:
Congratulations to everybody for being part of what's the most absurd courtroom thriller of all time.
The ending of Suspect has to be seen to believe. It's like watching Shattered
come alive in the middle of The Verdict. No matter what, it's watchable and moves
well. Tons of thanks go to Dennis Quaid for making it happen; he's convincing although the subplot involving his
character and Grace Comisky is pointless with Liam Neeson's face getting beet red to give it a run for the money.
Impossibly beautiful for a public defender, Cher has done a horrible job of trying to earn lots of points on the
liberal score sheet. Acting like she has an alternative theory of what actually happened, Riley tries to force
everybody to accept it. At one point, she wears a black leather jacket during the murder trial. Can we have some
seriousness here?
Riley's courtroom antics are so tiresome that Judge Helms needs to have her cited and recommended for
disbarment. Once may be random, but twice isn't. Helms should've pretended to leave the building in order to come back and
witness the potentially illegal exchange between the public defender and the juror. They're often seen, even in public.
Then again, Washington, D.C., is a small town. Even Riley lied to the judge which is a disbarrable offense.
As for the murder mystery, it's absurd, to say the least. The charges against Carl Wayne Anderson are so weak that
it's a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There's no physical evidence linking him to the crime.
Riley sure talks a lot, regardless of her client's deafness. How will he understand anything she says?
Why is the condemned car left on the parking lot for weeks? As part of the crime scene, it should be sent to the impound
center. The cops overlooked the tape? Um, yeah. By the way, where did Riley get the tire iron? At one pont, she and
Sanger entered the Department of Justice floor that's unguarded and devoid of people, so they could access classified
files. Only in Hollywood.
The ending is amazing, I must say. Cher goes to the courtroom building for a book she conveniently forgot. After
hearing something suspicious, she runs to the basement that's filled with empty but perfectly lit jail cells and traps
herself by being backed to a cul-de-sac. The guy grabs her neck and is therefore cut on the arm. The next day in court,
Riley calls out Helms for committing the murder which is incidentally the focus of the case they're trying. He attempts
to bang the gavel but reveals his bloody arm that was the result of the night before. Hence, it's ridiculous,
improbable, and unbelievable.
All in all, Suspect takes law and turns it into silly nonsense.