THE MOVIE

Guilty By Suspicion is an intriguing film set in Hollywood during its darkest and most tumultuous period. In the 1950's, the American film industry was hit hard by the McCarthy hearings, which was essentially a witch-hunt to uncover communism in the industry. Many writers and directors were brought in to testify and had their careers tainted in the process. The majority were not communists but were forced to name names, or suffer the consequences of being blacklisted and unable to continue to work in the business.

Academy Award winning producer Irwin Winkler (Raging Bull, Rocky) makes his directorial debut with Guilty By Suspicion, a film which attempts to educate those unaware of this dark period. Robert De Niro stars as the fictional David Merrill, a director who returns to America from France in 1951 to find himself, and his friends, deep in the midst of the witchunts.

Winkler's film has nothing but good intentions, and for the most part it is successful. De Niro is excellent in a restrained performance and he's well supported by Annette Bening as his estranged wife. The supporting cast is also filled with talent such as Chris Cooper and a nice cameo by Martin Scorsese. However, the cast is let down somewhat by Winkler's own script, which occassionally borders on the mundane. Sure, the McCarthy hearings are a fascinating piece of history, but structually the film is rather lacklusture if you're familiar with the story. Also, at times, Winkler seems to have given the film a movie of the week kind of look which I suppose fits well with the straigh-forward story, but doesn't exactly get the blood boiling. Only in the final act, where De Niro delivers a speech showing why he's the undisputed greatest actor of his generation, do we begin to feel just how hard these people were hit.

Perhaps I'm being a little harsh on Winkler, as the film is entertaining, and manages to recreate the period nicely. De Niro truly does give a fantastic performance and chances are those unfamiliar with the period will be fascinated.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

Guilty By Suspicion is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Although I complained in my summary that the film looks bland at times; that's not the fault of the DVD transfer. I couldn't find any faults in the transfer at all really. The video was strong all the way through.

Audio:

Only Dolby Digital 2.0 but it's still satisfactory on the ears. No problems with the dialogue at all.

THE EXTRAS

Absolutely nothing. Very informative extras.

SUMMARY

Although I have a few problems with Guilty By Suspicion, it's still an intriguing and entertaining film; one that I've now seen a number of times. De Niro is superb and carries the piece through its slower sections. For those unfamilar with this period in film history, Guilty By Suspicion will be intriguing to take a look at. Others won't really learn anything they don't already know, but will be treated to a performance by Robert De Niro that's right up there with his best.