Above Suspicion (1995)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Dempsey Cain	Christopher Reeve
Rhinehart	Joe Mantegna	½
Gail	Kim Cattrall
Nick Cain	Edward Kerr	½
Enrique	Geoffrey Rivas
Iris	Finola Hughes
Prosecutor (DA)	William H. Macy	½

Review

It was the ultimate and saddest of ironies; six days after the premiere of Above Suspicion, a psychological detective thriller in which Christopher Reeve plays a paralyzed man, he was himself paralyzed from the neck down after a riding accident. Except for the remake of Rear Window in 1998 (where he obviously again played a paralytic), this was therefore to be his final film. And what a classy way to conclude a career which perhaps never reached full bloom. Here Reeve is self-assured and aptly enigmatic, and the perfect tool for director Steven Schachter to spin William H. Macy's ingenious script around. The cinematography and narrative style is at times a little too typical of 1990s TV-productions, with a rather forgettable intro and some thinly established characters, but once it becomes clear that the script may be a little cleverer than your run-of-the-mill HBO feature and promises something explosive at some point, the film elevates into a tight and suspenseful thriller of classic proportions. Along with the script's increased artfulness, Schachter's direction becomes more assured and delicate, and he shakes off whatever stereotypical elements that were present during the opening part of the film, wrapping up this highly recommended hidden gem in style.