Suspect **** (1987, Cher, Dennis Quaid, Liam Neeson, John Mahoney, Joe Mantegna, Philip Bosco) – Classic Movie Review 6501

Director Peter Yates follows up his Eyewitness (1981) in 1987 with another top-notch thriller in similar vein.

It boasts charismatic performances by Cher as public defender Kathleen Riley, Liam Neeson as her client Carl Anderson, a deaf-mute down-and-out found where a Justice Department man is murdered, and Dennis Quaid as congressional adviser Eddie Sanger, a juryman who helps them as Riley sets to find the real killer.

Written by Eric Roth, an engrossing, exciting and clever story is taken at a fast-moving pace by director Yates, with plenty of convincing atmosphere and detail, to paper over any possible slight cracks in the script.

Also in the cast are John Mahoney as Judge Matthew Bishop Helms, Joe Mantegna as Charlie Stella, Philip Bosco as Paul Gray, Fred Melamed, Michael Beach, Bill Cobbs, Jack Jessop, Sandi Ross, Tony Craig, Richard Gant, Gene Mack, Sam Gray, Bernie McInerney, Thomas Barbour, E Katherine Kerr, Lisbeth Bartlett, Katie O’Hare, Rosemary Knower, Aaron Schwartz and Paul D’Amato.

It is shot in Technicolor by Billy Williams, produced by John Veitch and Daniel A Sherkow, scored by Michael Kamen, and designed by Stuart Wurtzel.

Yates recalled: ‘We really covered the whole spectrum of Washington from Capitol Hill right down to the drain pipes by the Potomac.’

It is notable as Neeson’s Hollywood debut, though of course only established names Cher and Quaid appear on the poster.

The much loved John Mahoney.

The greatly admired and loved John Mahoney died on 4 February 2018, aged 77. His films included Barry Levinson’s Tin Men (1987), playing Richard Dreyfuss’s business partner, and Moonstruck (1987) as a depressed college professor who regularly had affairs with his students, as well as The Russia House (1990), Love Hurts (1990), Barton Fink (1991), In the Line of Fire (1993), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Reality Bites (1994), The American President (1995), She’s the One (1996) and Dan in Real Life (2007).

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6501

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