Reasonable Doubt (2014) Reviews

• Lame and Corny Thriller

  claudio_carvalho2015-02-15

  In Chicago, the ambitious prosecutor Mitch Brockden (Dominic Cooper) is happily married with Rachel Brockden (Erin Karpluk) and they have a baby daughter. One night, Mitch goes to a bar to celebrate with his friend Stuart Wilson (Dylan Taylor) and other colleagues and when he is trying to take a cab, he sees two men snooping around his brand new SUV. He decides to drive home and accidentally hits a man on the street. He calls 911 in a phone booth and drives home, leaving the man on the street. On the next morning, Mitch learns on the news that a man called Clinton Davis (Samuel L. Jackson) was found with the body of the man in his van and claimed that he was helping the stranger in a hit-and-run. However the Police Detective Blake Kanon (Gloria Reuben) believes that Clinton is a wanted serial-killer. Mitch believes that the man is innocent and helps him in his trial and Clinton is declared not-guilty. But soon Mitch discovers how dangerous Clinton is and now his family is jeopardized. "Reasonable Doubt" is a lame and corny thriller that is usually broadcast. The plot has a promising beginning but the development is imbecile and unbelievable. The conscience crisis of Mitch and his investigation are absurd in the context of the story. The conclusion is a corny happy ending. My vote is three. Title (Brazil): "Um Álibi Perfeito" ("A Perfect Alibi")

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• unbelievable, but watchable

  bcheng932014-04-11

  ...everybody got their paychecks who were involved in the movie and what we audiences get is a mediocre effort from the people involved, and a preposterous storyline which they want us to believe is possible. another run of the mill whodunit, but in my opinion cannot happen in the real world and thought about turning it off about a 1/3 of the way through. the only saving grace was that the actors were likable and helped in me finishing the movie. it felt like one of those cop or lawyer shows that is on TV but the production was a lot better. the story is about an up and coming lawyer, played by Dominic Cooper who goes with a couple of lawyer buddies from the same firm on a drinking binge. they separate afterwards and the main protagonist instead of taking a cab, jumps into his suv, starts the car, steps on the gas and immediately runs over somebody. this all happens in a dimmly lit area close to the bar. he gets out of the suv and checks on the guy he ran over. he winds up making the wrong decision, and instead of calling from his cell-phone he runs a few yards to a payphone to call an ambulance so the call cannot be traced back to his cellphone. he goes to the guy hes just run over and tells him an ambulance is on the way. the victim can see that the young lawyer is about to leave and begs him not to, in doing so he grabs him by the front and his wallet falls out, with business cards flying everywhere. the lawyer thinks hes picked up everything and leaves. what happens after is so preposterous and unbelievable that i wanted to laugh in a lot of spots...but all in all, i have watched a lot worse movies then this. could have been a pretty good movie but just falls flat and it is very very predictable. no one acting performance stood out and a very average movie based on the ratings that it received. i would rate this movie a 5.5 out of 10, if you can't find another movie that you want to watch then try this. it is definitely not a first or second option movie.

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• "Now you're going to know what it is to be me!"

  doug_park20012014-03-20

  Dominic Cooper plays Mitch Brockden, a brilliant young Assistant D.A. in Chicago who unwittingly finds himself intertwined in a cat-mouse game with Clinton Davis, played by Samuel Jackson. If you're just looking for a fairly standard legal-suspense thriller, this one should do. Decent acting and vivid cinematography help to cover over the various inconsistencies in the plot, which, though it has a few unexpected flourishes, is otherwise right off the old cutting board. There's not much in the way of subtlety or food for speculation: Everything is explained neatly away in the dialogue. Some surprises here and there, but REASONABLE DOUBT ends up pretty much the way you probably think it will. A number of people were obviously more impressed by this film than I was, but then again, a number of others obviously weren't. Oh well, REASONABLE DOUBT kept my attention, and I made it to the end without any problem.

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• A good idea but badly done

  MOscarbradley2015-01-04

  The idea behind "Reasonable Doubt" is a pretty nifty one, (a young, hotshot prosecutor is involved in a hit-and-run and then finds himself prosecuting another man accused of the crime, and that's just the beginning of his problems), and to be fair what follows does make for a moderately exciting, if a nevertheless, preposterous thriller. (It also helps that Samuel L Jackson is involved). But while the initial idea may be good, the script is atrocious and Dominic Cooper's performance as the prosecutor is way off the mark; he just seems to be going through the motions and his character is impossible to take seriously. Nor does director Peter Howitt, (credited as Peter P Croudins) show any flair or apparent interest in the material. It's watchable in that of made-for-TV-movie kind of way but it could have been so much more.

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• It's not the best thriller

  kosmasp2014-10-23

  But it's still pretty decent. Only if you overlook the major flaws of course (character decisions are purely executed on the "what's the worst decision I could make?" scale, always choosing exactly that one), which shouldn't be too difficult because of the actors in it. Yes the inciting incident is as stupid as it gets (especially considering the lawyer position). The movie tries to make up for that, by showing the past of our main character, which sort of is trying to make the decision relating to the viewer. Of course Samuel L. Jackson does not care, what the character is or if some would consider the script weak. His performance is top notch once again. Just him picking up a glass of water and sipping from it, is a delight to watch (especially considering the circumstances of that scene and how it came to be). While there is a lot of stuff going on, that you won't really like, the actors are the anchors here, reeling this one in, before it goes completely overboard ...

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