Reasonable Doubt

Sometimes, I will make a choice of movie based solely on who is in it. Sometimes, I find a hidden gem of a film I may have otherwise missed. I saw this one starred Dominic Cooper and Samuel L Jackson. I love Samuel L Jackson and as my friends know I fancy Dominic Cooper something fierce so Reasonable Doubt should've been a slam dunk for me, right? Not so much, sadly. Let's take a look at the reasons why. Warning, if for some reason you think you might actually want to watch this ludicrous movie, please know I'm playing fast and loose with spoilers throughout. You have been warned. 

Mitch Brockden (played by Dominic Cooper) is a hotshot Prosecuting Attorney who after a night of drinking with his co-workers makes the ill-advised decision to drive home intoxicated after he sees three men checking out his SUV while parked on the street. While driving home, he accidentally hits a guy that runs out in front of his car and panics. He calls for an ambulance from a nearby pay phone and then flees the scene. The next morning he finds out another man, Clinton Davis (played by Samuel L. Jackson), was picked up by police after being found with the victim in the back of his truck. He is arrested for the crime and put on trial. Who is the Prosecuting Attorney in the case? Mitch, of course. If you're already rolling your eyes at the contrivance, we have a long way to go. 

Davis insists that he found the victim and was only trying to help. With little evidence to convict him with and false testimony from Mitch's step brother Jimmy (played by Ryan Robbins), Davis is let go and his case is dismissed. Except Mitch discovers that Davis may not have been so innocent after all as another case with a victim with injuries he saw on the man that he hit come across his desk. Upon going back and examining the crime scene where Mitch hit him and alley way the man ran from he discovers the man he hit was already in the process of being murdered by Davis when he ran away and got hit by Mitch. 

As you can tell, the plot contrivances are piling up already. So much of what happens in this movie is shaky at best. The plot continuously contorts itself to fit it's ludicrous story with a hero that seems to be getting dumber by the minute. At first Mitch goes to the police with his findings, specifically Detective Blake Kanon (played by Gloria Ruben), who suspects there is more to Mitch's story but fails to follow up on what Mitch tells her with some fairly compelling evidence that there is a connection between the victims. Of course, this happens so Mitch has to investigate Davis on his own. He discovers a connection between the victims that they are all recently released ex-cons. Who does Davis recruit as his partner in his investigation to follow and watch Davis? His recently released ex-con brother. Gee, I wonder what's going to happen next? 

The filmmakers actually came up with an intriguing motive for Davis. He and his family were the victims of a home invasion by a re-offending ex-con and his family died while he survived. After that, he began trolling support group meetings of recently released ex-cons, personally taking out any violent offenders that voiced fears they might re-offend. Of course, this entire motive and psychosis is tossed aside when Davis decides to go after Mitch's family to teach him about the pain he's had to live with. For some reason, this just doesn't jive with the character. I can see him going out and being offing violent ex-cons that are afraid they are going to commit another crime. In his warped mindset, he probably even thinks what he's doing is heroic. But I don't buy for one second that he would turn on an innocent young wife and infant child. The filmmakers felt they needed the same tired, violent showdown between hero and villain that every other thriller of this ilk has. Even then, it's pretty pathetic as Mitch proves that in addition to being an idiot, he's a pretty lousy hero too.  

There are so many logic errors, plot contrivances and idiotic characters to make this an even remotely believable movie. I know any movie carries a certain level of suspension of disbelief but there are limits. The movie follows the cookie cutter formula for a yuppies in peril thriller with very little deviation and when the film seems to want to break free from that, it contorts itself back within the confines of the predetermined plot. Cliches from Courtroom dramas and thrillers in general are all checked off in this film rather quickly. As for the performances in the film, none of them really rise much above the "I'm here for my paycheck" level. I have a feeling the writers had the same attitude. 

It's been a long while since I've sat through something that was as spectacular a misfire as Reasonable Doubt. Unfortunately, sometimes my love for certain movie stars can take me down a road I really never should have gone down. But perhaps my only solace is in writing a really nasty review, which is any film critic's best revenge against a bad movie.