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."

1987 2h 1m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 256

CrimeDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“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.”

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Cast

Cher
Kathleen Riley
Dennis Quaid
Eddie Sanger
Liam Neeson
Carl Wayne Anderson
John Mahoney
Judge Matthew Bishop Helms
Joe Mantegna
Charlie Stella
Philip Bosco
Paul Gray
E. Katherine Kerr
Grace Comisky
Fred Melamed
Morty Rosenthal

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Peter Yates
Writers: Eric Roth
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

39 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Peter Yates, shot by Billy Williams. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Michael Kamen. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ray Lovejoy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Cher and Dennis Quaid and Liam Neeson carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "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.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0094082 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Peter Yates directs. Billy Williams behind the camera. Michael Kamen scores. Ray Lovejoy cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

139 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Peter Yates, shot by Billy Williams. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Michael Kamen. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Ray Lovejoy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Cher and Dennis Quaid and Liam Neeson carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "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.".
7IMDB entry: tt0094082 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8The top-rated still from this film on TMDB has multiple community votes — a signal the frame composition stuck with viewers.

The technical file

Cinematography: Billy Williams
Original score: Michael Kamen
Editing: Ray Lovejoy
Production design: Stuart Wurtzel
Costume design: Rita Ryack
Runtime: 121 min · 2h 1m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $18,782,400
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Suspect (1987)

Also by

Peter Yates

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-05-05
★ 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
JPV8522026-04-14
★ 6/10
Well directed legal thriller from Peter Yates is quite convoluted and a weak romantic element but still entertaining with Cher and Dennis Quaid putting in decent performances. 3.0/5