Robert Chipman
Welcome to this column dedicated to my appreciation of physical media supplements called Feature Presentations. The goal of this column is not to say whether a film is good or bad and worth picking up or not — I would like to highlight the discs that go the extra mile and provide film fans with enough tasty tidbits to satisfy even the hungriest of cinephiles. Today’s article will focus on Under Suspicion from the “After Dark: Neo-Noir Cinema Collection Three” collection via Imprint Films.
I never have or will claim to be an expert in reviewing the technical specs of a physical media release. There are plenty of knowledgeable people in this realm of commenting on the audio and video aspects of a disc with better setups than I’ll ever own. This column, Feature Presentations, is a way of highlighting the supplemental material within a given disc. With all that out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff and dive into my review of this Blu-ray release of Under Suspicion.
As a disclaimer of transparency for this episode of Feature Presentations, my review of Under Suspicion comes from a review copy that Imprint Films provided for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
When I initially bought Under Suspicion around 2001, I knew nothing about it except it starred Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman. I saw that Morgan Freeman did an audio commentary for the film, and I thought, “If he thinks the movie is good enough to commentate about it afterward, it has to be worth buying, right?” And sometimes, the best movies are the ones you go into blind.
I popped the movie in, not sure what to expect. Hope for the best, brace for the worst. And when it was over, it was neither. The idea behind Under Suspicion is a tried-and-true formula: a cop interrogates a murder suspect, and during the conversation, secrets, truths, and lies come out. Gene Hackman plays a wealthy attorney who discovers a child that has been raped and murdered. When the local police captain, played by Morgan Freeman, requests the attorney to clarify some inconsistencies, what begins as a ten-minute conversation turns into a night of deception and one in which the two main characters’ lives will be changed forever.
All the ingredients are there for an underrated cinematic miracle, but the film falters at many levels. While Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman are as dependable as ever, Thomas Jane, portraying a combative detective, is wildly over-the-top as a detective assisting in the investigation. Director Stephen Hopkins employs a visually interesting technique for the film’s many flashbacks by placing Morgan Freeman into the action that Hackman’s character narrates. Unfortunately, that is where anything of interest ends. As mentioned, the two leads are dependable, but dependability and visual fireworks are not enough to save a bland story that is not as clever and well-written as it thinks it is.
An archival audio commentary with actor Morgan Freeman and director Stephen Hopkins is ported over from the film’s DVD release. Both participants are pretty low-key during their discussion, but between bouts of silence and chuckling about small things from the production, each offers insight into Under Suspicion. Hopkins mostly leads the track, spending time speaking about filming among the various locations of Puerto Rico, the usage of the camera and blocking, and the intricate editing techniques deployed throughout the film. Morgan Freeman chimes in about his acting choices, thoughts on the locales, and opinions on the film’s dark subject matter. It’s not the most engaging commentary you’ll hear, but hearing Morgan Freeman spend almost two hours discussing his thoughts and opinions on film is invaluable, and I’m glad it made its way over to this disc.
Imprint Films also includes an 11-minute promotional featurette created around the time of the film’s production. Slightly more in-depth than your typical EPK fluff, this feature includes comments from actors Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, Monica Bellucci, Thomas Jane, director Stephen Hopkins, and producer Lori McCreary. Each talks about what drew them to the film with Hackman, Freeman, and Jane offering the most insight. Gene Hackman, in particular, was the most fascinating as he discusses the complexities of his character and how he approached the role. While this behind-the-scenes look doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it’s a better extra than one might think.
The final bit of supplemental material is the film’s theatrical trailer.
And there you have it! Under Suspicion is a film I wanted to like more than I do, and even revisiting it many years after my first watch, I find it stylish but empty. The movie has plenty of talent going for it, but the final product makes you yearn for the greatness it could have been. Not having any new features on the disc is slightly disappointing, but Imprint Films porting over the essential audio commentary with director Stephen Hopkins and actor Morgan Freeman was a must. The disc is passable for what it is, but like the film itself, one wishes it were better.
