Under Suspicion (2000, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman)

In Under Suspicion, in present day Puerto Rico, lawyer Henry Hearst’s (Gene Hackman) preparation for a keynote speech is interrupted by the police, who need to follow up on a statement he made following the discovery of a murdered child. Convinced they are wasting his time with a pointless vendetta, Hearst complies and meets Captain Victor Benezet (Morgan Freeman), who points out the inconsistencies in his testimony. After proving Hearst was in the vicinity the night of a previous murder, Benezet becomes convinced he has found a serial killer.

Evidence provided by the suspect’s wife Chantal (Monica Belluci) appears to confirm his guilt, but as Hearst changes his story, Benezet has to decide whether he is hearing a confession which could lead to the electric chair, or merely watching the hubris of a man whose power and influence is fast evaporating…

A remake of Claude Miller’s 1981 police procedural Garde à Vue, it replaces the sedentary approach with a faster narrative, jumping between interview, crime scene and character, with Hackman’s shifty power broker, packed with just enough ambiguity, balanced against Freeman’s (who produced the film after 12 years championing the project) sincerity and wisdom.

production details
France, USA | Revelation Inc | 110 minutes | 2000

Director: Stephen Hopkins
Script: Michel Audiard, Claude Miller, W. Peter Iliff, John Wainwright, Tom Provost, Jean Herman,

cast
Gene Hackman as Henry Hearst
Morgan Freeman as Captain Victor Benezet
Thomas Jane as Detective Felix Owens
Monica Bellucci as Chantal Hearst
Nydia Caro as Isabella
Miguel Ángel Suárez as Superintendent
Pablo Cunqueiro as Detective Castillo
Isabel Algaze as Camille Rodriguez
Jacqueline Duprey as Maria Rodriguez
Luis Caballero as Paco Rodriguez
Patricia Beato as Darlita
Sahyly Yamile as Reina
Héctor Travieso as Peter
Marisol Calero as Sergeant Arias
Vanessa Shenk as Sue Ellen Huddy
Eliezer Ortiz as Policeman
Ramon Saldaña as Raymond
Conchita Vicens as Ruthanne
Willie Denton as Ben