"Shadow of a Doubt" is an incredible turkey. It's so bad that it's bad; it has no redeeming value, even as camp. It should be viewed only by those who are desperate and have no alternatives. In this probably straight-to-video release, Melanie Griffith and Tom Berenger seem humiliated by their lines and appear to be trying to get through the ordeal as quickly as possible. It's impossible to understand how top-flight actors could have committed to this project.
Griffith is miscast as defense lawyer Kitt Devereux. Berenger plays Jack Campioni, the DA who is Devereux's ex-husband, and who opposes her in the trial which is the core of the film. (Prosecuting offices, particularly large ones like LA, would never assign a prosecutor to a case who has a relationship or former relationship with the defense lawyer).
The story, if it can be called that, is full of holes and is ridiculous in the extreme. It concerns a troubled young woman from a rich LA family who is murdered in her hot tub. Devereux receives a $300,000 retainer to defend Bobby Medina who is accused of committing the crime. Medina, a Latino rap artist, had sex with the victim shortly before she was killed. Although Medina would have no motive to kill the victim (quite the opposite), and despite solid evidence from the victim's roommate that exculpates Medina, Campioni immediately charges him with first degree murder. Also heavily involved is Paul Saxon, a California senator and leading presidential candidate, as well as Saxon's dragon-lady mother Sylvia. It seems that Campioni will become attorney general if Saxon wins the Presidency, so Campioni has an incentive to distract attention from Saxon's involvement in the murder. Incidentally, Saxon is given speeches to read that are so left-liberal that he would not be a plausible candidate for the San Francisco water board, much less President.
Medina's trial is probably the most ineptly written in the long history of courtroom drama on film. Devereux leads off by mentioning a failed plea bargain in her opening statement as evidence that the DA obviously doesn't think Medina is guilty. That wins you sanctions in any court, but nothing happens to Devereux aside from the court sustaining an objection. Devereux and Campioni also discuss the case over drinks in a highly improper manner.
Normally, writers of courtroom drama hire technical assistants to help guide them through the niceties of evidence and trial procedure. The writers here evidently couldn't afford advisers so they just made it all up. The blunders are too numerous to catalog. Incidentally, Devereux addresses a jury neatly dressed in suits and ties; undoubtedly accurate if the movie were set in the 50's but juries in LA these days are casually dressed.
The films works neither as a thriller nor as a courtroom drama and should never have been made at all.
Griffith is miscast as defense lawyer Kitt Devereux. Berenger plays Jack Campioni, the DA who is Devereux's ex-husband, and who opposes her in the trial which is the core of the film. (Prosecuting offices, particularly large ones like LA, would never assign a prosecutor to a case who has a relationship or former relationship with the defense lawyer).
The story, if it can be called that, is full of holes and is ridiculous in the extreme. It concerns a troubled young woman from a rich LA family who is murdered in her hot tub. Devereux receives a $300,000 retainer to defend Bobby Medina who is accused of committing the crime. Medina, a Latino rap artist, had sex with the victim shortly before she was killed. Although Medina would have no motive to kill the victim (quite the opposite), and despite solid evidence from the victim's roommate that exculpates Medina, Campioni immediately charges him with first degree murder. Also heavily involved is Paul Saxon, a California senator and leading presidential candidate, as well as Saxon's dragon-lady mother Sylvia. It seems that Campioni will become attorney general if Saxon wins the Presidency, so Campioni has an incentive to distract attention from Saxon's involvement in the murder. Incidentally, Saxon is given speeches to read that are so left-liberal that he would not be a plausible candidate for the San Francisco water board, much less President.
Medina's trial is probably the most ineptly written in the long history of courtroom drama on film. Devereux leads off by mentioning a failed plea bargain in her opening statement as evidence that the DA obviously doesn't think Medina is guilty. That wins you sanctions in any court, but nothing happens to Devereux aside from the court sustaining an objection. Devereux and Campioni also discuss the case over drinks in a highly improper manner.
Normally, writers of courtroom drama hire technical assistants to help guide them through the niceties of evidence and trial procedure. The writers here evidently couldn't afford advisers so they just made it all up. The blunders are too numerous to catalog. Incidentally, Devereux addresses a jury neatly dressed in suits and ties; undoubtedly accurate if the movie were set in the 50's but juries in LA these days are casually dressed.
The films works neither as a thriller nor as a courtroom drama and should never have been made at all.