Film Review – UNDER SUSPICION (1991)

UNDER SUSPICION (1991, UK) ***
Crime, Drama, Thriller
dist. Rank Film Distributors (UK), Columbia Pictures (USA); pr co. Carnival Film & Television / Columbia Pictures / London Weekend Television (LWT) / The Rank Organisation; d. Simon Moore; w. Simon Moore; pr. Brian Eastman; ph. Vernon Layton (Colour. 35mm. Panavision (anamorphic). 2.35:1); m. Christopher Gunning; ed. Tariq Anwar; pd. Tim Hutchinson; ad. Tony Reading; rel. 27 September 1991 (UK), 28 February 1992 (USA); BBFC cert: 18; r/t. 99m.
cast: Liam Neeson (Tony Aaron), Laura San Giacomo (Angeline), Kenneth Cranham (Frank), Maggie O’Neill (Hazel Aaron), Stephen Moore (Roscoe), Alphonsia Emmanuel (Selina), Alex Norton (Prosecuting Lawyer), Kevin Moore (Barrister), Alan Talbot (Powers), Malcolm Storry (Waterston), Martin Grace (Colin), Richard Graham (Denny), Michael Almaz (Stasio), Nicolette McKenzie (Mrs. Roscoe), Alan Stocks (Paul), Tommy Wright (Hotel Janitor), Lee Whitlock (Ben), Noel Coleman (Judge), Stephen Oxley (Hotel Deskman), Colin Dudley (Hotel Waiter).
In this emulation of ‘40s and ‘50s film noir, Neeson is a private eye who becomes a double-murder suspect when his client’s boyfriend and his own wife are found dead, side by side. The sleaze has been amped up here with increased doses of sex and more graphic violence. The genre conventions are played to the hilt quite nicely in the first two acts, but the story goes off the rails in its final act as implausibility takes over with director/writer Moore keen to top each twist. A race against the clock element is also thrown in for good measure. The result is an entertaining but contrived and flawed mystery/thriller – not least because San Giacamo makes for an unconvincing femme fatale. Neeson, however, is good in the lead role and the period setting (Brighton, 1959 into 1960) is well realised.