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Beyond Suspicion
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Thousands of movies every year attempt to find distribution, but instead go to video, cable, DVD or a combination of the three. Although many of them actually deserve their fate, there's the occasional picture that might be worth taking a look at. "Beyond Suspicion", originally titled "Auggie Rose", is an example of a fairly mid-budget movie with some fairly decent-sized name actors which didn't end up going the theatrical route.
The film stars Jeff Goldblum as John Nolan, an insurance salesman who is living a rather dull existance. He stops off to buy wine one night and the place gets held up. The owner doesn't get shot and Nolan is okay, but the clerk has been critically injured. Nolan rides along to the hospital and the clerk, who is named Auggie Rose, doesn't make it. Nolan decides to find out more about who this man was, and things turn up like the fact that Rose was just out of prison and about to meet a pen pal (Anne Heche). Nolan decides to meet her to tell her what happened, but instead (sort of like Frankenheimer's "Reindeer Games") chooses to claim Rose's identity. He runs into trouble when a con (Timothy Olyphant) offers Nolan (as Rose) a heist, but he doesn't accept. The con does some digging and finds that this isn't the real Rose.
The film doesn't completely work, but works better than it probably should have. It's not quite believable that Nolan, who has a respectable job and fairly plush surroundings (as well as a girlfriend) would leave all that behind to slip into the life of Rose. Goldblum does do the best that he can convincing us that this new low-key life that he's made for himself is a freer and more enjoyable one, but it didn't quite work for me as much as he tried. Still, it's interesting to watch, because we're not sure what the character is getting himself into - and the movie does keep us guessing about what's next for Nolan. Heche also lends fine support, with a very enjoyable performance.
First-time director Matthew Tabak has done a mostly fine job covering the story with a very simple style, letting the camera tell the story and not being agressive with movement. There's points throughout the 109 minute running time that dragged a bit for me, but overall, "Beyond" certainly was an interesting "multi-genre" picture that was often enjoyable.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Beyond Suspicion" is presented in non-anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen. Although Fox usually presents every title in anamorphic widescreen, possibly some rights issues or other problems prevented them from doing that for this title. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that it wasn't due to their handling of the film, but I will still say that their presentation here is still noticably lacking a certain "polish".
Sharpness and detail are very good, but tend to be slightly inconsistent. Some interior and dimly lit scenes tended to look a little on the soft side. Edge enhancement is visible in a few scenes and does cause a moderate amount of distraction. Some scenes also appeared very slightly grainy and there were a couple of marks and speckles that occasionally appeared during the film. I didn't see any instances of pixelation, though.
Colors seemed bright and bold, looking nicely saturated and clean, with no problems. Overall, this is certainly not unwatchable, but pales in comparison to the kind of output that Fox is usually capable of for a new release.
SOUND: "Beyond Suspicion" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, but it hardly makes much use of the potential of the 5.1 format. The film is mostly dialogue driven and, as such, the movie often folds up towards practically being mono in nature. Still, the score does open the movie up in the front a bit, but the few surround effects that are actually used are so minor that they make go by unnoticed.
MENUS::
EXTRAS::
Commentaries: There are two commentary tracks. The first is from director Matthew Tabak and producer Daniel Stone, while the second is from director Matthew Tabak and actor Jeff Goldblum. The first track with Tabak and Stone really is quite an interesting discussion of all things "Suspicion" as they discuss the history of the production as well as why the film really didn't get much of a theatrical release at all. They also go into details about working with the actors as well as how and where particular scenes were filmed. The other track, featuring Tabak and Goldblum, is an equally interesting track, although in a rather different way. Tabak often "interviews" the actor as he asks him questions about filmmaking in general - Goldblum then offers energetic rambles as answers, being both funny and insightful.
Also: Trailer, cast/crew interviews, alternate ending, cast/crew bios.
Final Thoughts: Although not always entirely believable, "Beyond Suspicion" was elevated by fine performances from Goldblum and Heche. Although Fox didn't (or wasn't able to?) go further with the presentation in terms of image quality, at least sound quality is okay and there's a strong amount of extras. Certainly overpriced at $34.95, but some may find this worth a rental.
Thousands of movies every year attempt to find distribution, but instead go to video, cable, DVD or a combination of the three. Although many of them actually deserve their fate, there's the occasional picture that might be worth taking a look at. "Beyond Suspicion", originally titled "Auggie Rose", is an example of a fairly mid-budget movie with some fairly decent-sized name actors which didn't end up going the theatrical route.
The film stars Jeff Goldblum as John Nolan, an insurance salesman who is living a rather dull existance. He stops off to buy wine one night and the place gets held up. The owner doesn't get shot and Nolan is okay, but the clerk has been critically injured. Nolan rides along to the hospital and the clerk, who is named Auggie Rose, doesn't make it. Nolan decides to find out more about who this man was, and things turn up like the fact that Rose was just out of prison and about to meet a pen pal (Anne Heche). Nolan decides to meet her to tell her what happened, but instead (sort of like Frankenheimer's "Reindeer Games") chooses to claim Rose's identity. He runs into trouble when a con (Timothy Olyphant) offers Nolan (as Rose) a heist, but he doesn't accept. The con does some digging and finds that this isn't the real Rose.
The film doesn't completely work, but works better than it probably should have. It's not quite believable that Nolan, who has a respectable job and fairly plush surroundings (as well as a girlfriend) would leave all that behind to slip into the life of Rose. Goldblum does do the best that he can convincing us that this new low-key life that he's made for himself is a freer and more enjoyable one, but it didn't quite work for me as much as he tried. Still, it's interesting to watch, because we're not sure what the character is getting himself into - and the movie does keep us guessing about what's next for Nolan. Heche also lends fine support, with a very enjoyable performance.
First-time director Matthew Tabak has done a mostly fine job covering the story with a very simple style, letting the camera tell the story and not being agressive with movement. There's points throughout the 109 minute running time that dragged a bit for me, but overall, "Beyond" certainly was an interesting "multi-genre" picture that was often enjoyable.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Beyond Suspicion" is presented in non-anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen. Although Fox usually presents every title in anamorphic widescreen, possibly some rights issues or other problems prevented them from doing that for this title. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that it wasn't due to their handling of the film, but I will still say that their presentation here is still noticably lacking a certain "polish".
Sharpness and detail are very good, but tend to be slightly inconsistent. Some interior and dimly lit scenes tended to look a little on the soft side. Edge enhancement is visible in a few scenes and does cause a moderate amount of distraction. Some scenes also appeared very slightly grainy and there were a couple of marks and speckles that occasionally appeared during the film. I didn't see any instances of pixelation, though.
Colors seemed bright and bold, looking nicely saturated and clean, with no problems. Overall, this is certainly not unwatchable, but pales in comparison to the kind of output that Fox is usually capable of for a new release.
SOUND: "Beyond Suspicion" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, but it hardly makes much use of the potential of the 5.1 format. The film is mostly dialogue driven and, as such, the movie often folds up towards practically being mono in nature. Still, the score does open the movie up in the front a bit, but the few surround effects that are actually used are so minor that they make go by unnoticed.
MENUS::
EXTRAS::
Commentaries: There are two commentary tracks. The first is from director Matthew Tabak and producer Daniel Stone, while the second is from director Matthew Tabak and actor Jeff Goldblum. The first track with Tabak and Stone really is quite an interesting discussion of all things "Suspicion" as they discuss the history of the production as well as why the film really didn't get much of a theatrical release at all. They also go into details about working with the actors as well as how and where particular scenes were filmed. The other track, featuring Tabak and Goldblum, is an equally interesting track, although in a rather different way. Tabak often "interviews" the actor as he asks him questions about filmmaking in general - Goldblum then offers energetic rambles as answers, being both funny and insightful.
Also: Trailer, cast/crew interviews, alternate ending, cast/crew bios.
Final Thoughts: Although not always entirely believable, "Beyond Suspicion" was elevated by fine performances from Goldblum and Heche. Although Fox didn't (or wasn't able to?) go further with the presentation in terms of image quality, at least sound quality is okay and there's a strong amount of extras. Certainly overpriced at $34.95, but some may find this worth a rental.
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