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Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

EMAILPRINTAnchor Bay Entertainment

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt reviews
35
4.3 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 11 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 6 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama  |  Mystery

Written by: Peter Hyams

Directed by: Peter Hyams

Release Date:
Theatrical: September 11, 2009
DVD: December 22, 2009

Running Time: 105 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG-13 for a sex scene, violence and brief strong language

Starring Michael Douglas, Amber Tamblyn, and Jesse Metcalfe

High profile lawyer, Mark Hunter has an impeccable record putting criminals behind bars and is a shoo-in for governor in the upcoming election. But when ambitious rookie journalist, C.J. Nicholas begins investigating Hunter for tampering with evidence to secure his convictions, the district attorney’s perfect record is up for scrutiny. Commencing a risky game of cat and mouse with Hunter, C.J. frames himself as a murder suspect to catch the corrupt D.A. in the act. (Anchor Bay Films)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

60

NPR Ella Taylor

Like the decent B-movie director that he is, Hyams tosses in two gripping car chases and blows up a few more vehicles for good measure. But otherwise, there's little in this pointless rehash to distract audiences from the pleasure of watching Tamblyn.

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50

USA Today Claudia Puig

Lacks tension or mystery. Even the courtroom scenes feel artificial.

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50

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

He squeezes a bit of suspenseful juice out of the old plot, and Douglas makes smarm a chewy pleasure, but this is a noir in search of a hero we can root for because we actually buy what he’s doing.

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50

Village Voice Melissa Anderson

Lang's film, the last he made in the U.S., exposed the immorality of the death penalty; Hyams's retread offers only more plot and longer, louder car chases.

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50

The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis

Despite excellent stunt work and a too-brief appearance by Orlando Jones as an unflappable cop, the movie -- unlike Mr. Douglas’s hairdo -- never rises above mediocrity.

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40

Empire Staff (Not credited)

Comes across as more 80s TV movie than 50s period piece.

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40

Time Out New York Aaron Hillis

The scam is so crazy, it just might work…for a throwaway episode of "Law & Order."

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40

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

The lack of charisma exhibited by leads Jesse Metcalfe and Amber Tamblyn doesn't help matters, and not even the stalwart presence of Michael Douglas fails to provide the proceedings with sufficient gravitas.

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40

Los Angeles Times Robert Abele

The leads can't lend either spunk or gravitas to what was already a preposterous yarn 50 years ago.

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25

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

What I can’t figure out is how director Peter Hyams can remake a 1956 movie from the great Fritz Lang and not learn anything about suspense, pacing and storytelling in the process. This movie is beyond boring. You could stay warm for two hours by striking a match to the wooden acting.

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0

New York Post Kyle Smith

The would-be noir Beyond a Rea sonable Doubt has an absurd story, but on the plus side you can hardly see what's going on because the photography is so murky.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 4.3 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

K. R. B. gave it a2:
We rented this from Shaw's Video on Demand for $5.99 because the wife likes Michael Douglas. We should have just waited for it to come out on the Woman's Television Network.

Gypsy Travels gave it a7:
We liked it. I didn't see the original, but this one kept our interest throughout the movie. I like movies without a lot of violence, sex, and vulgar language, yet a good story. This fit the bill.

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