Taglines: How close can you get to a killer before you’re too close?
Under Suspicion movie storyline. In 1959 Brighton, disgraced cop turned private detective Tony Aaron works largely on falsifying adulteries for use as evidence in divorce cases. He involves his wife as the fictional co-respondent for painter Carlo Stasio but the pair are shot dead in the hotel room. In charge of the case is Frank, Tony’s ex-partner still on the Brighton force. His most likely suspects are Angeline, Stasio’s mistress who is set to inherit his house and pictures, and Tony himself, parts of whose story don’t seem to add up.
Under Suspicion is a 1991 film directed by Simon Moore. It stars Liam Neeson, Laura San Giacomo, Kenneth Cranham, Alan Talbot, Maggie O’Neill, Malcolm Storry, Martin Grace, Stephen Oxley, Victoria Alcock. Neeson won best actor at the 1992 Festival du Film Policier de Cognac for his performance. The film mostly had negative reviews and currently holds a 25% on Rotten Tomatoes based on eight reviews.
Film Review for Under Suspicion
Simon Moore, an English playwright and television dramatist, makes his theatrical film debut as the writer and director of “Under Suspicion,” a taut and entertaining mystery melodrama set in the English Channel resort city of Brighton in 1959.
The year is important. The death penalty was still in effect. England’s divorce laws had not yet been changed, and adultery was still the favorite ground for dissolving a marriage. All that had to be done was arrange for the husband to be surprised in bed with a woman and photographed in a facsimile of flagrante delicto. To this end, a thriving if illegal mini-industry grew up around entrepreneurs who, for a fee, would book hotel rooms for clients, supply stand-in lovers and then take the required pictures.
Such a fellow is Tony Aaron (Liam Neeson), a seedy private eye who two years earlier was asked to resign from the Brighton police force. At that time a colleague was killed when Tony was caught in serious flagrante delicto with the wife of a man he was supposed to be watching.
When “Under Suspicion” begins, Tony and his wife, Hazel (Maggie O’Neill), the woman with whom he was caught, are running their own divorce scam in Brighton. Thus imagine Tony’s horror when, in the course of a perfectly routine business arrangement, he bursts into a hotel room to take a picture of the client with Hazel and finds them both murdered. The client’s thumb has also been amputated.
The chief suspect is Angeline (Laura San Giacomo), the American mistress of the murdered man, a hugely successful artist. Angeline, in turn, suspects Selina (Alphonsia Emmanuel), the artist’s jealous wife. Why the amputated thumb? The artist authenticated his work not by his signature but by his thumbprint.
Though recently bereaved, and not quite trusting Angeline, Tony falls into a heated affair with her. The evidence against Angeline piles up until there’s a sudden break in the case that puts Tony himself under suspicion.
More cannot be said about the story except that it plays well until very close to the end. Mr. Moore is an efficient writer and director who doesn’t waste time on superfluous details. He also has an excellent cast.
Mr. Neeson’s Tony is an engaging second-rater who can never pass up a momentary pleasure. Miss San Giacomo is also good as a former art student who has come to enjoy life among the rich and famous. Kenneth Cranham plays Tony’s pal, his mentor on the police force, who risks all to save Tony’s life.
Under Suspicion (1992)
Directed by: Simon Moore
Starring: Liam Neeson, Laura San Giacomo, Kenneth Cranham, Alan Talbot, Maggie O’Neill, Malcolm Storry, Martin Grace, Stephen Oxley, Victoria Alcock
Screenplay by: Simon Moore
Production Design by: Tim Hutchinson
Cinematography by: Vernon Layton
Film Editing by: Tariq Anwar
Costume Design by: Penny Rose
Set Decoration by: Beth DeSort, Stephenie McMillan
Art Direction by: Tony Reading
Music by: Christopher Gunning
MPAA Rating: R for areas of strong violence and sensuality, and for language.
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: February 28, 1992
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