Under Suspicion (1991)

Thanks for the memories!

A Masterpiece!

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

An English film on some thrilling murder. Fascinating because of their strange system of justice. We are in the 1950s, just before the passage to 1960. The death penalty seems to still be in practice then, by hanging of course. They dropped beheading several centuries ago.A private investigator, in 1959, is arranging adulterous affairs for men who want a divorce. The law was strict in those days in England. A lot stricter than in Henry VIII's times. He uses his wife as the necessary actress for the deal and thus doubles the profit, and yet he is not rich, far from it.He has a bad past with a 1957 police business when he was a policeman. He did something not exactly professional that ended up with the accidental death of a colleague. In other words a pretty bad character. His last adulterous collage turns dramatic with two deaths. The man is a very rich artist and he has an official wife from whom he is trying to get a divorce with this particular adulterous affair, and a mistress whom he wants to marry. What's more he has just changed his will for this mistress to get everything, particularly all the works of art, the paintings. We can think of at least four possible suspects, persons of interest that could be put under suspicion. One nearly gets hanged, not the one we may think is the real culprit, but who cares. It ends up with a couple who have arranged everything and are selling the paintings to be as rich as a gold mine. It is not too badly done, and it is even slightly dynamic. If you add the touch of English humor you have to find in an English film taking place in Brighton, England, that even has a sign for Christmas and the tourists that says "WELCOM" the first time you see it and WELCOME" the second time, it is in a way funny Ah! Ah! I guess misspelling is an English characteristic. They are just checking if we are not sleeping.Good entertaining evening. And welcome (with an E if possible) to Miami at the end, the Homeland of Dexter and CSI. A predestined place.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Under Suspicion seems OK until the end, that's when they break with a film making (or indeed story telling) tradition and screw with the viewer in order to create a twist.A twist that you don't see coming, not because there isn't evidence for it, not because it's not obvious, but because of the audiences POV in the film.While the twist is for this reason unexpected it also loses the audiences trust, they have been lied to and cheated. This also has the effect of making the ending an unhappy one.Before the ending it's enjoyable enough although we are asked to swallow some rather unlikely things including possibly the closest life and death 'save' in movie history. (not to mention a justice system that seems extremely speedy)There would also seem to be a plot hole in that an extremely valuable and lucrative piece of evidence (possibly the reason for the crime) is seemingly sacrificed to save someone when no doubt other evidence could have proved effective.Another hole is Angeline seeing both sides of a building while seeing fine detail far away in the dark.

This is one of those decent crime movies that few people have heard about. It has a lot going for it. I should rate it higher since the story kept my interest all the way both times I saw it (four years apart). The violence and profanity are not overdone, the main characters are very interesting and the story finishes with a unique twist. Actually, that twist is something you have to ponder to determine whether it makes sense. I am not sure it did. You'd have to watch this again soon and check on a few things. It's either very clever or its totally unfair to the viewer, which is why I kept it at an '8."It's nicely photographed and I bet it looks much better on a widescreen DVD than on the tape I viewed it on in the '90s. Liam Neeson and Laura San Giacomo star. I was familiar with the latter from the film, "Quigley Down Under." She's much more appealing in that film than this one. Neeson is almost always interesting to watch.

i want to give a STRONG plug for this very fine film that has received almost no acclaim. if you enjoy cinematic plot twists and suspense, sexuality and greed, but not blood and guts, this is a film you should see. when i say it keeps you guessing up till the last minute, i mean just that. art, money, sex, mistresses, wives, good cops, bad cops, murder! got it all-give it a try.