7/10
The Art of Murder, Adultery, and Insurance Scam
11 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
"Under Suspicion" is a crime drama with several plot twists that entertain and provide sufficient ambiguity that the entire storyline is never fully revealed until the last scene, this is a good thing. Staring Liam Neeson as Tony Arrandt, a disgraced cop and sleazy private investigator who will do anything but the right thing to make an easy buck, this thriller centers on the double murder of Tony's wife, and a famous painter. Laura San Giancamo is Angelique, the stunning mistress of the painter, who stands to inherit everything while the painter's dumped wife, Selina, gets zero in the new will. As Tony tries to find the killer of his wife, while bedding Angelique in the painter's house, the police are building a case for murder with the opportunistic widower as prime suspect. With the collection of the last works of the artist hanging on the walls, the value of the art relies on the authenticated signature of the painter and his thumb print in the oils, but, the thumb was amputated when he was murdered. As Tony seems to try and discover the true murderer of his wife, the police, who resent his presence because his sexual activities once resulted in the death of one of their own when Tony was on duty, build a case for his arrest. His only friend is his former partner, who remains loyal and believes in his friend's innocence.

This is a tight drama with wonderful settings and interiors of 60s English seaside hotels and modernism architecture. The wonderful costumes are already commented on, but on the short, too contemporary San Giancomo, they look like she is wearing her mother's wardrobe. With too pale and heavy face makeup and ruby red lipstick, she is uncomfortably miscast next to a towering Tony, who is too low class for any believable liaison with the ambitious Angelique.

Neeson as Tony is a wonderful, amoral, and easy on the eye gumshoe whose desire to make an easy buck underscores his every move. San Giancomo is miscast in a period film where she is far too contemporary to be believable but, nevertheless, gives a restrained and credible performance. However, it is the story which must be watched closely as the guilty are proved innocent, and the art of deception and adultery just don't pay off in the end -- or does it?
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