"Suspect" is a hugely enjoyable courtroom thriller in which a Washington D.C. public defender becomes convinced that the suspect in a murder trial is innocent and also that the case is unwinnable. There doesn't seem to be any way out of her problem until she's offered help from an unexpected source. Unfortunately, accepting the help on offer also involves taking some extremely serious and potentially career threatening risks.
Shortly after a Supreme Court Justice commits suicide and a clerk/typist who'd also worked in the Justice Department is found brutally murdered, a homeless man called Carl Wayne Anderson (Liam Neeson) is found with some of the victim's possessions on him and is immediately arrested and accused of her murder.
Burned out public defender Kathleen Riley (Cher) is assigned to the case and soon discovers that her client is uncooperative and prone to having violent outbursts. Communication with him improves gradually when she discovers that he's actually a deaf-mute but even then, she finds it almost impossible to find any significant information or evidence that could be helpful for his defence. To make matters worse, the trial judge Matthew Helms (John Mahoney) is unsympathetic to the problems she's experiencing and also seems more preoccupied with other matters as he's said to be the President's nominee for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Eddie Sanger (Dennis Quaid) is a jury member whose interest in the case leads him to carry out his own investigations. He wants to assist Riley by passing information on to her but any such collusion is strictly forbidden and punishable by disbarment. The couple do, however, work together and find some pieces of evidence which reveal that the murder victim had discovered evidence of a high level conspiracy to fix a politically important court case in which the Supreme Court Justice had been involved some years earlier. Ultimately this information provides an explanation for the suicide and the murder and also leads to the discovery of the identity of the real murderer.
Cher and Dennis Quaid both give good individual performances but are even better when working together. The differences between their personalities lead to some entertaining exchanges and the high stakes involved also create a certain amount of additional tension.
Riley is overworked, lonely and in desperate need of a holiday. She's struggling to cope against what seem like insuperable odds and doesn't feel resilient enough to take risks that could lead to her being disbarred. Sanger, on the other hand, is a Capitol Hill lobbyist who's used to pursuing his goals in a ruthless manner and has no inhibitions about cutting corners or acting outside the rules if such actions are likely to produce the desired results.
"Suspect" has a good plot with many moments of real suspense and the solid performances provided by Cher and Dennis Quaid are also complemented by those of John Mahoney, Liam Neeson and Joe Mantegna.
Shortly after a Supreme Court Justice commits suicide and a clerk/typist who'd also worked in the Justice Department is found brutally murdered, a homeless man called Carl Wayne Anderson (Liam Neeson) is found with some of the victim's possessions on him and is immediately arrested and accused of her murder.
Burned out public defender Kathleen Riley (Cher) is assigned to the case and soon discovers that her client is uncooperative and prone to having violent outbursts. Communication with him improves gradually when she discovers that he's actually a deaf-mute but even then, she finds it almost impossible to find any significant information or evidence that could be helpful for his defence. To make matters worse, the trial judge Matthew Helms (John Mahoney) is unsympathetic to the problems she's experiencing and also seems more preoccupied with other matters as he's said to be the President's nominee for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Eddie Sanger (Dennis Quaid) is a jury member whose interest in the case leads him to carry out his own investigations. He wants to assist Riley by passing information on to her but any such collusion is strictly forbidden and punishable by disbarment. The couple do, however, work together and find some pieces of evidence which reveal that the murder victim had discovered evidence of a high level conspiracy to fix a politically important court case in which the Supreme Court Justice had been involved some years earlier. Ultimately this information provides an explanation for the suicide and the murder and also leads to the discovery of the identity of the real murderer.
Cher and Dennis Quaid both give good individual performances but are even better when working together. The differences between their personalities lead to some entertaining exchanges and the high stakes involved also create a certain amount of additional tension.
Riley is overworked, lonely and in desperate need of a holiday. She's struggling to cope against what seem like insuperable odds and doesn't feel resilient enough to take risks that could lead to her being disbarred. Sanger, on the other hand, is a Capitol Hill lobbyist who's used to pursuing his goals in a ruthless manner and has no inhibitions about cutting corners or acting outside the rules if such actions are likely to produce the desired results.
"Suspect" has a good plot with many moments of real suspense and the solid performances provided by Cher and Dennis Quaid are also complemented by those of John Mahoney, Liam Neeson and Joe Mantegna.