The start to UNDER SUSPICION is extremely gripping: not only do you find Neeson to be a devious cop, you know that he can lie with ease and that he has no regard for common values like the law, property or loyalty even to those he loves.
Standing in stark contrast, fellow policeman Kenneth Cranham provides the best performance as Neeson's real friend and also a stickler for the values that his former colleague shuns. A third copper, played by Storry, is something in between, out to punish Neeson but sadly incomplete in his actions by film's end.
O'Neill, playing the cheating wife who helps Neeson with "matrimonial cases" - i.e. getting paid for feigning affairs with men seeking divorce - is an interesting figure in that she has as few qualms about breaking the law as Neeson does.
Pretty San Giacomo seems miscast here, and the script does not help the character she portrays. As much as she may love Neeson, no one would accept a life sentence that easily after hearing confirmation from Neeson that he was the culprit.
Alphonsia Emmanuel, the wife of the murdered painter, delivers a very strong performance, too, as the clinical wife seeking what should be hers under the terms of the real will. Her cold stare is something to savor.
Photography, the atmosphere of Brighton in 1959/1960, deserves plaudits.
Simon Moore does a very good job of directing - not so much of writing. The script's final third is the film's weakness: the ending is rather unconvincing. Neeson seems sad that his love is in the clink, but he is easily capable of living with it, so that brief look of remorse seems as misplaced as San Giacomo's acceptance of her fate.
All told, UNDER SUSPICION is well worth watching: the first two thirds provide credible, high quality entertainment.
Standing in stark contrast, fellow policeman Kenneth Cranham provides the best performance as Neeson's real friend and also a stickler for the values that his former colleague shuns. A third copper, played by Storry, is something in between, out to punish Neeson but sadly incomplete in his actions by film's end.
O'Neill, playing the cheating wife who helps Neeson with "matrimonial cases" - i.e. getting paid for feigning affairs with men seeking divorce - is an interesting figure in that she has as few qualms about breaking the law as Neeson does.
Pretty San Giacomo seems miscast here, and the script does not help the character she portrays. As much as she may love Neeson, no one would accept a life sentence that easily after hearing confirmation from Neeson that he was the culprit.
Alphonsia Emmanuel, the wife of the murdered painter, delivers a very strong performance, too, as the clinical wife seeking what should be hers under the terms of the real will. Her cold stare is something to savor.
Photography, the atmosphere of Brighton in 1959/1960, deserves plaudits.
Simon Moore does a very good job of directing - not so much of writing. The script's final third is the film's weakness: the ending is rather unconvincing. Neeson seems sad that his love is in the clink, but he is easily capable of living with it, so that brief look of remorse seems as misplaced as San Giacomo's acceptance of her fate.
All told, UNDER SUSPICION is well worth watching: the first two thirds provide credible, high quality entertainment.