Before and After (1996)

Director:

Barbet Schroeder

Writers (WGA):

Rosellen Brown (book)
Ted Tally (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 February 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

A murder. A suspect. A shadow of a doubt.

Plot:

Two parents deal with the effects when their son is accused of murdering his girlfriend.

Plot Keywords:

Evidence | Doctor | Letter | Garage | Dead Girl

Cast

Meryl Streep	...	Dr. Carolyn Ryan
Liam Neeson	...	Ben Ryan
Edward Furlong	...	Jacob Ryan
Julia Weldon	...	Judith Ryan
Alfred Molina	...	Panos Demeris
Daniel von Bargen	...	Fran Conklin
John Heard	...	Wendell Bye
Ann Magnuson	...	Terry Taverner
Alison Folland	...	Martha Taverner
Kaiulani Lee	...	Marian Raynor, Prosecutor
Larry Pine	...	Dr. Tom McAnally
Ellen Lancaster	...	Panos' Assistant
Wesley Addy	...	Judge Grady
Oliver Graney	...	T.J
Bernadette Quigley	...	T.J.'s Mom

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some disturbing images of violence, brief strong language and some sensuality.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 (w) | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #34185) | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Bergen County Court House - 10 Main Street, Hackensack, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Caravan Pictures

Goofs:

Continuity: During the initial lawyer conference, the sandwich, the napkin, and the sandwich wrapper in front of the lawyer change relative position and the wrapper changes shape, several times, without the lawyer touching them. Or hearing the sound of the wrapper being moved/reshaped.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Stuck on You (2003)

should have been a Lifetime original movie

This is an all too common problem: someone somewhere convinces bona fide movie stars, in this case Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson, no less, to appear in a feature film that, without movie star names attached, would have ended up as made for TV. This is a weak script with bad, predictable dialogue - very disappointing with such a cast. With some reworking, it might have been a very powerful family story, perhaps never as compelling as Ordinary People, for instance, but better than it was.