Post by ronnierocketago on Feb 2, 2010 8:04:40 GMT
BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT (2009) - ***
After a few years in exile, Peter Hyams is back making movies two-fold. First this week hitting DVD shelves is UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: REGENERATION, reteaming Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren from the original, which for a Direct-to-Video actioneer is getting surprisingly good reviews. That was directed by offspring John Hyams who got his old man to be his cinematographer, which if you ask me he should do more for other filmmakers.
Second is this low budget thriller which I had been looking forward to, but it never came around to my theatres and so I honestly forgot. Plus the negative reviews (this scored 0% at Rotten Tomatoes) didn't help, like "crappy 80s thriller," which confuses me because I thought this came out last year. Then I found BEYOND at a bargain bin and believe me, it was well worth the three bucks.
In fact I would go as far to say that in spite of it's lacking DTV production levels (Hyams' foreseable future), this is Hyams' best movie since the fun THE RELIC. Which isn't hard considering the competition is the mindless THE MUSKETEER, the supernaturally silly END OF DAYS, and the deep fried turkey classic A SOUND OF THUNDER. For you Hyams completists at home, BEYOND is Hyams' second remake of a 1950s movie (after NARROW MARGIN) and second courtroom gripper with Michael Douglas (after THE STAR CHAMBER).
BEYOND is of course a remake of the Fritz Lang film noir (his last American movie in fact) where a news reporter (Jesse Metcalf) believes corrupt D.A. Michael Douglas is forging forensic evidence for what otherwise are flimsy circumstantial cases in order to score guilty verdicts.So Metcalf gets the bright idea of framing himself for a murder he didn't commit in order to expose Douglas and win a Pulitzer, with the help of his buddy Joel Moore (dorky scientist from AVATAR). But Moore gets killed in a car accident and all the exonerated evidence is destroyed.
Douglas sports what amounts to a glorified cameo, but goddamn remember when Douglas was awesome? Especially as a villain? His scenes, and dasterdly presence hanging over the plot, are easily the best part of BEYOND. Metcalf, who previously did JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE and played the gardner boytoy on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, is perfectly suited as your contemporary reporter: Ambitious, good looking, shit for brains. Romantic interest Assistant D.A. Amber Tamblyn, the only other person who believes Metcalfe is innocent, is adequete even if she kinda looks like Chloe from 24 but without the adorable frown.
The random casting is comedian Orlando Jones(!) playing a serious detective. If you don't hold MAD TV and those 7-up commercials against him, he's actually legitimately good. His part is small, but never the less he treasures and capitalizes on this rare opportunity. I'm reminded of his DOUBLE TAKE co-star and fellow comic Eddie Griffin who acted surprisingly effective as a ruthless gangster in that Steven Seagal actioneer URBAN JUSTICE.
BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT is much like NARROW MARGIN, a junk disposable thriller and an unnecessary remake at that yet I must admit I was somewhat compelled and entertained by the narrative. The story is by-the-numbers, but Hyams the oldtimer plays those familiar formula notes so good (like he did with OUTLAND, 2010, and THE RELIC), you don't mind. Which is where one critic of BEYOND completely missed the point when he wrote this: "I hate Hyams and his outdated directing!"[/i] This critic, who I shall not name so I won't humiliate him, was paid to write that sentence of sublime brilliance. Yeah fuck you Ozu.
This in spite of some considerable logic gaps and plot holes. What kind of a guy only makes 2 copies of a CD which could determine life or death? The original BEYOND got away with this in the pre-Kinkos, pre-computers, pro-fire analog epoch, but in our digital paranoid age this is silly. Why didn't he bring a copy to the trial in the first place? Wouldn't others have observed before Douglas' unbreakable pattern of presenting last minute miracle evidence in very public trials? Past convictions can't be ruled as "mistrials," they gotta be overturned on appeals. The revealed masterplan makes no logical sense considering prior actions taken...Oh nevermind.
In fact my only serious problem which keeps pestering me is the ending. It's the reason I won't recommend this to everyone. It's foreign and feels completely borrowed from a totally different movie. It's alien, A fifth wheel. It doesn't belong here. I understand the thematic point in Hyams' context, for unfortunately it's a very topical issue. But well, tough shit. BEYOND continues a recent thriller trend of obligating the audience with a final auxilary plot twist out of a sheer lack of self-confidence. Beyond a reasonable doubt, we didn't need it.