Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009)

Directed by: Peter Hyams | 106 minutes | crime, drama, thriller | Actors: Jesse Metcalfe, Amber Tamblyn, Michael Douglas, Joel Moore, Orlando Jones, Lawrence P. Beron, Sewell Whitney, David Jensen, Sharon K. London, Krystal Kofie, Grant James, Eric Gipson

The end justifies the means for journalist CJ Nicholas (Jesse Metcalfe). So he goes to jail for murder to get his story out… CJ has long suspected that District Attorney Mark Hunter (Michael Douglas) is using false DNA evidence of the possible perpetrator to get his conviction in homicide cases. where only circumstantial evidence was found. His track record is therefore enormous, which is of course useful for his candidacy to become governor of the state. However, his boss doesn’t give CJ the opportunity to delve further into it, so he comes up with a plan. As soon as a hobo or prostitute has been murdered, CJ requests the police report and then purchases all (indirect!) evidence that will lead to him as the perpetrator. Hunter will step in to take the case and once again come up with DNA evidence that was not actually found at the crime scene, proving CJ’s story. In order to cover himself, he records everything he does and purchases on video after the murder, so that this will exonerate him from the murder after Hunter’s expected action. A beautiful, but dangerous plan…

Especially when it turns out that not everything goes as planned and his girlfriend Ella (a strong role of Amber Tamblyn) – who works under Hunter at the Public Prosecution Service – has to come in handy to help him. She knows nothing about CJ’s plan and must only take his word for it that he really didn’t commit the murder. Will CJ get his story? But more importantly, will Ella get him out of jail?

‘Beyond a Reasonable Doubt’ delivers Michael Douglas as a big name, but his role is actually very limited and far from impressive. In terms of charisma, he remains intact, but the story is so poorly developed that he can never add value to his character. He gets the most out of it, which cannot be said of protagonist Jesse Metcalfe. This beautiful boy arouses no sympathy, no pity, nothing. Only when the spotlight is on Amber Tamblyn does the game actually get interesting.

The story moves too quickly from one thing to another. Sometimes you even get the impression that some scenes have been cut very rigorously. This does not benefit the tension, but fortunately there is enough left for the thriller lovers. It just all seems a bit unbelievable – because a murder case is very simplistic – but the final offensive takes the cake and is completely unnecessary. In fact; without this ending, the movie as a whole would have been better. If we make a small comparison with ‘Fracture’ (2007) – because that’s the kind of film it is – then the ending is intelligent and here is downright ridiculous. Nevertheless, ‘Beyond a Reasonable Doubt’ is a fine film for in between. The premise is simply too exciting and the cast too promising in advance.