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
Lloyd White	...	Detective
Myra Taylor	...	April
Bill Cobbs	...	Judge Franklin
Sam Gray	...	Judge Louis Weiss
Richard Gant	...	Everett Bennett
Sandi Ross	...	Doris / Video Typist
Paul De La Rosa	...	Helms' Court Clerk
Siona Dixon	...	Helms' Court Steno
Gene Mack	...	Helms' Court Marshal
Jim Walton	...	Helms' Court Marshal
Stefan Graham	...	Marvin Johnson
Robert Walsh	...	Club Congressman
Edwin M. Adams	...	Congressman
Michael Beach	...	Parking Lot Attendant
Prudence Barry	...	Bag Lady at River
Carl Jackson	...	Depot Derelict
Billy Williams	...	Dr. Alan Alpert
Tony Craig	...	Hotel Marshall
Sandra Bowe	...	Public Defender's Office Client
Frederick Strother	...	Public Defender's Office Client
Jaye Tyrone Stewart	...	Jailer
Paul Hjelmervik	...	Court Marshal
Ralph Cosham	...	Judge Assel Stewart
Wendy E. Taylor	...	Security Guard
R.R. Coleman	...	Arraignment Court Clerk
Djanet Sears	...	Message Clerk
Jack Jessop	...	Mr. Davis
Diane Marie L. Tomajczyk	...	Secretary
Richard Bertone	...	Clerk
Laura J. Dalton	...	Clerk
Ewart Everard Williams	...	Anthony Hall
Gregory McKinney	...	Plainclothes Cop
Michael Emmet	...	Waiter
Darryl Palmer	...	Assistant U.S. Attorney
David Lyle	...	Morty's Assistant

Directed by
Peter Yates

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Eric Roth		writer

Produced by
Jennifer Ogden	....	associate producer
Daniel A. Sherkow	....	producer
John Veitch	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Michael Kamen

Cinematography by
Billy Williams

Film Editing by
Ray Lovejoy

Casting by
Karen Hazzard

Production Design by
Stuart Wurtzel

Art Direction by
Tony Hall
Steven P. Sardanis		(as Steve Sardanis)

Costume Design by
Rita Ryack

Makeup Department
Leonard Engelman	....	makeup artist: Cher

Production Management
Michael MacDonald	....	production manager
Ted Zachary	....	executive in charge of production (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Matt Bearson	....	additional second assistant director
Brian Dennis	....	third assistant director
Carol Green	....	second assistant director
Pat Kehoe	....	first assistant director
Wendy Ross	....	second assistant director (as Wendy A. Ross)
Brian Whitley	....	additional second assistant director

Art Department
John 'Frenchie' Berger	....	property master
David L. Glazer	....	assistant property master
Matthew Lammerich	....	key scenic artist
Erik L. Nelson	....	property master
Michael Taylor	....	lead man

Sound Department
Don Sharpe	....	supervising sound editor
John Motyer	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Stunts
Lisa Dalton	....	stunts (as Lisa Loving)
Kirk Elam	....	stunts (as Kirk A. Elam)
Hannah Kozak	....	stunt double: Cher
Rick Sawaya	....	stunts
Jeff Smolek	....	stunt coordinator
Jerry Wills	....	stunts
James Winburn	....	stunts (as James B. Winburn)

Camera and Electrical Department
Gail Harvey	....	still photographer
Gary Muller	....	first assistant camera
Scott Rathner	....	additional second assistant camera
Bob Rose	....	key grip (as Bobby Rose)
Neil Seale	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Sandy Williams	....	dolly operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mark Burchard	....	wardrobe
Mary Elizabeth Still	....	ladies costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Simon Harris	....	first assistant editor

Other crew
Eric Banz	....	production assistant
Frawley Becker	....	location manager
Shelley A. Boylen	....	production coordinator
Stanley Brossette	....	unit publicist
Marc Dassas	....	location manager
Terry Dunn	....	production assistant
Michael Jackman	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• TriStar Pictures (presents)
• ML Delphi Premier Productions

Distributors

• TriStar Pictures (1987) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures of Canada (198?) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1990) (USA) (TV)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (200?) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2001) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (199?) (Germany) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2001) (France) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (199?) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (1988) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video (1990) (Germany) (video) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Sam Alexander Productions  titles

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:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Kathleen is reading Carl's case file after he attacks her, we hear her say "Can't they read?" but her lips are clearly saying something completely different.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

References To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Cher delivers good performance in far-fetched courtroom drama...

SUSPECT is a very watchable little courtroom mystery that deepens as it goes along spinning a plot about corruption in higher places. And there's a nice surprise at the end for anyone trying to figure out who the guilty party is. But it still seems contrived and the quirky relationship between CHER and DENNIS QUAID doesn't help. He's a cocky juror with knowledge of the judicial system who gives her help in solving the case of a man wrongly accused of murder whom she's defending.

LIAM NEESON is the wrongly accused and he's excellent in a role that has him as a homeless deaf mute accused of murdering a girl for a mere pittance. Cher is the lawyer assigned to defend him. She does so with sincerity and warmth but the plot line which has her discovering the truth is too far-fetched to be believable.

Nevertheless, the tale is constructed in a way that will have you absorbed until the courtroom ending. Good performances by JOE MANTEGNA and JOHN MAHONEY help sustain some credibility. There's a well done chase scene toward the end with the killer revealed only in shadow or shown only from shoes to knees, so that the final revelation of the killer in the courtroom does come as a surprise.

Watchable but easily forgettable, with a not too convincing relationship established between CHER and DENNIS QUAID.