Suspect

She's a lawyer who broke two laws of her profession... Never get involved with a juror and don't look for clues in dangerous places.

6.6
19872h 1m

When a Supreme Court judge commits suicide and his secretary is found murdered, all fingers point to Carl Anderson, a homeless veteran who's deaf and mute. But when public defender Kathleen Riley is assigned to his case, she begins to believe that Anderson may actually be innocent. Juror Eddie Sanger, a Washington lobbyist, agrees, and together the pair begins their own investigation of events.

Production

Logo for TriStar Pictures

Trailers & Videos

Thumbnail for video: Suspect (1987) 35mm film trailer, flat open matte, 2160p

Suspect (1987) 35mm film trailer, flat open matte, 2160p

Cast

Photo of Cher

Cher

Kathleen Riley

Photo of Dennis Quaid

Dennis Quaid

Eddie Sanger

Photo of Liam Neeson

Liam Neeson

Carl Wayne Anderson

Photo of John Mahoney

John Mahoney

Judge Matthew Bishop Helms

Photo of Joe Mantegna

Joe Mantegna

Charlie Stella

Photo of Philip Bosco

Philip Bosco

Paul Gray

Photo of E. Katherine Kerr

E. Katherine Kerr

Grace Comisky

Photo of Fred Melamed

Fred Melamed

Morty Rosenthal

Photo of Bill Cobbs

Bill Cobbs

Judge Franklin

Photo of Richard Gant

Richard Gant

Everett Bennett

Photo of Michael Beach

Michael Beach

Parking Lot Attendant

Photo of Gregory McKinney

Gregory McKinney

Plainclothes Cop

Photo of Robert V. Walsh

Robert V. Walsh

Club Congressman

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Reviews

J

John Chard

7/10

The innocent shall know the glory of heaven!

Peter Yates directs and Eric Roth writes the screenplay. It stars Cher, Dennis Quaid, Liam Neeson, John Mahoney and Joe Mantegna. Music is by Michael Kamen and cinematography by Billy Williams. Pot has Cher as a public defender tasked with defending a deaf and mute homeless man accused of murder.

It's a solid legal eagle thriller is this, it opens with a dramatic suicide and the discovery of a woman's dead body, and then runs through many of the staples of feature film courtroom shenanigans. There's some spice thrown in for good measure as the lawyer and a member of the jury get too close for comfort, while the central premise of a deaf and mute person being the accused makes for fascinating viewing - the makers obviously having a social awareness of the issue.

As the mystery to be solved question holds the attention, pic does descend into the realm of the far fetched with the behaviour of Cher and Quaid's characters. It's also not something of a shock once the big reveal arrives. Yet this has enough savvy performances, nice technical touches (William's cinematography sparkles at times) and a strong pot boiling premise, to make it well worth the time invested with it. 7/10

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