MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Suspicion’ Too Tricky for Its Own Good

Classic British movie thrillers often come in two types: Agatha Christie-style mystery riddles, or Hitchcockian chases where we race through labyrinths of danger or guilt. “Under Suspicion” (Cineplex Odeon Century Plaza) tries to be both.

It whips up a seeming “wrong man” plot and evokes a seedy Graham Greene-ish world of betrayal and immorality. But it also tries for the puzzles and triple twists of a Christie. While it doesn’t quite succeed at either, there’s something likable in the attempt.

It’s obvious that young writer-director Simon Moore, who comes from British TV, wants psychological and literary strengths as well as cinematic ones--but he isn’t expert enough yet. He can’t quite palm the ace, pull off the dazzling double shuffles this kind of movie requires. Some of the twists get preposterous, and the film doesn’t pulse with the wounding, enigmatic romance the story obviously suggests.

Set in 1959 Brighton, it’s partly a portrait of hypocritical social strictures among the wealthy, seen from the sharp, cynical angle shared by crooks and cops. Its central character is disgraced police officer Tony Aaron (Liam Neeson), who has descended to staging phony adultery scenes with his wife and camera to facilitate quick divorces.

Moore loads up the movie with grimy atmosphere. His backdrops often include the memorably gray Brighton seascapes and the drizzly, drab streets through which Greene’s baby-faced killer Pinky prowled in “Brighton Rock.” And he has also packed it with thriller set-pieces, usually involving bravura cross-cutting. In the first, immediately after the credits, we see why Tony was disgraced, and why his partner-buddy Frank (superbly played by Kenneth Cranham) will go the distance to help him--even when he’s suspected of a double murder.

There’s a romance. Laura San Giacomo is a femme fatale involved in both painting and the murders: She is dangerous, seductive and newly rich, the kind of woman Tony shouldn’t get involved with--but does. There are a number of other characters perhaps guiltier than they seem: a spurned widow, a close-mouthed lawyer, a sadistic cop, a pesty creditor, and several old clients.

Central to everything is the relationship between Tony and Frank; Neeson and Cranham bring it off perfectly. Neeson’s role requires him to be deliberately ambiguous. We have to both identify with Tony and accept his reckless over-reaching and sweaty desperation. Tony is the hell-raiser and risk-taker; Cranham’s Frank is the steelier, wiser pro. Cranham--the Noah Claypool of Carol Reed’s 1968 “Oliver!”--and Neeson carry the heavy emotional cargo of “Under Suspicion.” That means that, on some level, the romantic sections have failed--which may not be Laura San Giacomo’s fault. Moore admires and emulates films like “Chinatown” and “Body Heat,” and he obviously wants some of the same byzantine plotting and dreamily erotic charge. But he doesn’t get much mystery or ambiguity out of Angeline; she lacks the right texture and iconography.

The current pop movie thriller structures--cop-buddy slugfests or attack-the-yuppie blood baths--are rarely as rewarding or amusing as some of the old ones. That’s why movies should try more often for what “Under Suspicion” (rated R for violence, sensuality and language) goes after--and can’t quite bring off. It’s encouraging to find romantic thrillers that try to tease, trick and surprise us, as well as pour on the gore, shocks and atmosphere. Sometimes even a half-tricky movie is better than the ones that are all fire, blood, crash and swagger.

‘Under Suspicion’

Liam Neeson: Tony Aaron

Laura San Giacomo: Angeline

Kenneth Cranham: Frank

Alphonsia Emmanuel: Selina

A Columbia Pictures presentation in association with Rank Film Distributors and LWT of a Carnival film. Director-screenplay Simon Moore. Producer Brian Eastman. Executive producers Nick Elliott, Fred Turner, George Helyer. Cinematographer Vernon Layton. Editor Tariq Anwar. Costumes Penny Rose. Music Christopher Gunning. Production design Tim Hutchinson. Art director Tony Reading. Running time: 1 hour, 54 minutes.

MPAA-rated R (Sensuality, violence, language).