Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

Name: Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Crime
Released: September 11, 2009
Duration: 106 min
Rating: 35

2009

METASCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Ratings

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5.9

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5.9	Your Score
5.9	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Ratings

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Beyond A Reasonable Doubt

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Movie Details & Credits

After Dark Films | Release Date: September 11, 2009 | PG-13

Summary: 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.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)… Expand

Director: Peter Hyams

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Crime

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 106 min

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Critic Reviews

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. Read full review

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. Read full review

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. Read full review

Robert Abele

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

Aaron Hillis

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

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. Read full review

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. Read full review

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User Reviews

NikolayG

Jan 23, 2016

After I saw Michael Douglas in the movie, A Perfect Murder (which you can rent from Amazon.com as a download, but otherwise isn't available for download or streaming), which is a very good thriller, I wanted to see Michael Douglas in any other thriller I could.

So I rented Beyond AAfter I saw Michael Douglas in the movie, A Perfect Murder (which you can rent from Amazon.com as a download, but otherwise isn't available for download or streaming), which is a very good thriller, I wanted to see Michael Douglas in any other thriller I could.

So I rented Beyond A Reasonable Doubt, which is a solid if average thriller, except for two things. First, there's just not enough Michael Douglas. I don't know why movie studios think we don't want to continue to watch our beloved stars as they age. He's still Michael Douglas and he's still excellent. The second problem is, they throw in an absurd double backflip of a twist in the final scene that is so unbelievable you just have to pretend it never happened. There was a period from about 2005 until just a couple of years ago, when every thriller had to throw in a ridiculous extra super twist at the very end. They always ruined the story but thankfully these days they don't seem to be doing that anymore. Beyond A Reasonable Doubt fell right smack dab in the midst of that silly trend.

Basically, the plot (without giving away more than a trailer would) is about a journalist who has a hunch that a successful prosecutor is planting DNA evidence in every case he tries, to win a conviction, and the journalist sets out to prove it. Michael Douglas is the evil DA. It's a fair rental, but if you haven't seen A Perfect Murder yet, rent that first. It's a lot better.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

GypsyTravels

Jan 2, 2010

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.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

Ronnie

Dec 5, 2010

I like it, because it kept me interested enough with a final not obvious at all. Perhaps you could spend some time enjoying it ;)

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

K.R.B.

Jan 8, 2010

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.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

JLuis_001

Jan 18, 2020

I hope the check was good for Michael Douglas because I couldn't find a better reason for him to be in this film.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

moviegrabbag

Jun 12, 2011

It's sad that Michael Douglas signed onto this movie. The dialogue is complete crap and the last line of the movie is stupid and laughable. Worst of all the movie builds up to nothing. It feels like it just stops. I get the feeling that the producers wanted to give it a manageable runningIt's sad that Michael Douglas signed onto this movie. The dialogue is complete crap and the last line of the movie is stupid and laughable. Worst of all the movie builds up to nothing. It feels like it just stops. I get the feeling that the producers wanted to give it a manageable running time so they cut large chunks that might have helped the movie, but not likely based on the dialogue up to this point. The wist ending to the movie is also horribly obvious from well before the second act gets started. Don't waste your time on this piece of garbage… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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