Product Details

• Actors: Cher, Dennis Quaid, Liam Neeson, John Mahoney, Joe Mantegna
• Directors: Peter Yates
• Writers: Eric Roth
• Producers: Daniel A. Sherkow, Jennifer Ogden, John Veitch
• Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: June 2, 1998
• Run Time: 121 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302479487
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #233,453 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Suspect is an endearingly silly suspense movie with an excellent cast. Cher stars as Washington, D.C., public defender Kathleen Riley, who is beginning to question the meaning of her career. (Before you prejudge, she's perfectly believable as a lawyer. It's the overtly Irish moniker she can't quite pull off.) A murder victim is found in the Potomac, a mute homeless man (Liam Neeson) stands accused, and Riley gets the case. Can it be that the homeless guy is innocent? Can it be that this whole thing just might go right to the top? I don't want to spoil it for you, but I think you know which way the smart money is betting. Luckily Dennis Quaid is on the scene, playing that rarest of creatures, the heroic congressional lobbyist. Suspect has a refreshingly cheerful disregard for courtroom procedure, the rules of evidence (apparently it's OK to root around crime scenes and pick stuff up), and you could fit the Capitol dome itself through some of the holes in the plot. But once you're comfortable with the fact that you're in a world where special movie laws apply, it's a very enjoyable flick. Watch it in good health and remember: if you're going to question a highly dangerous homeless man in a terrible neighborhood, for heaven's sake do it alone in the dead of night. --Ali Davis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Above the law, September 23, 2003

By 

Jake Z "holden84" (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Suspect (DVD)

In SUSPECT, Cher plays Kathleen Riley, a defense attourney for the public. When a brutal murder is commited against a Justice Department file clerk, and a homeless man who is deaf and cannot speak is accused of the crime, and Kathleen gets the case. Dennis Quaid plays dairy farm lobbyist Eddie, who is a juror who helps Kathleen with finding evidence. This part of the movie is a little hard to swallow, but the performances make up for it. It's terribly unlikely a juror would become romantically involved with a defense lawyer as well. However the movie was fine otherwise, and one of the last scenes where an unknown assailant chases Kathleen down the hallways of the court house, is quite suspenseful and thrilling. Cher is very believable in this part. Overall, a great flick to rent, very suspenseful and has a surprise twist at the end.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Cher's best!, April 25, 2004

By 

Brandon L. Harlow (Colonial Heights, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Suspect (DVD)

I actually prefer this film to Witches of eastwick and Moonstruck! Great thriller that will leave you sitting on the edge of your seat. Cher plays a defense attorney for a deaf/mute & homeless Liam Neeson. Dennis Quaid is on the jury and together, he & Cher must unfold the mystery and prove her client innocent. The ending is extremely suspenseful and will leave you in disbelief. This was during Cher's peak as an actress.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stylish Courtroom Thriller Has Precision and Poise, March 5, 2002

By 

Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Suspect (DVD)

When a deaf-mute homeless man is accused of murdering a federal worker in Washington DC, the public defender assigned to the case assumes he is guilty--until she begins to receive tips about the case from the most unlikely of sources: a member of the jury seated for the trial. Any one even remotely conversant with the law will find the story so full of loopholes that it is more than a little ridiculous, but it scarcely matters: the cast carries it off in fine style, playing the script with exceptional precision and poise and generating plenty of suspense along the way. Cher is particularly noteworth as the public defender assigned to the case. Cher? Playing a Washington D.C. attorney? It's hardly typecasting, but once more Cher demonstrates the depth of her talent: not only is she extremely effective, she is completely believable. The same might be said for both Liam Neeson, who plays the deaf-mute on trial, and Dennis Quaid, who plays the smarmy juror who begins to put two and two together; SUSPECT is clearly Cher's picture, but her co-stars are every bit as good as she.

Although it has its share of courtroom pyrotechnics and suspenseful moments, SUSPECT is a surprisingly low-key and all the more successful for it. When all is said and done we like the characters as people, believe in them, and are glad we met them. While it will never compete with the likes of Hitchcock, SUSPECT is a good, solid, and very unpretentious courtroom thriller excuted with a great deal of style. Those whose tastes run in that direction will be very pleased indeed. Recommended.