More than anything else, this picture is famous for the fact that it was the last picture Christopher Reeve made before an accident that took away the use of his legs and while accidents happen all time, in this film it was more for the fact that he also played a person who was paralysed within it.  Combined with his real life tragedy at the time and it almost seemed like he was tempting fate.  Maybe he was, maybe he was not and who can really say, but putting all of that aside, the film is actually a decent little thriller that never fails to entertain in many different ways.  It is even co-written by William H. Macy of all people, not to mention Jerry Lazarus and Steven Schachter as well.

Whether before or after his accident, you could always count on a good performance from Christopher Reeve as he was a consumate actor.  The man had a quiet, brooding intensity about him and as such, it always benefited the work whether he was playing Superman, a writer in Somewhere in Time or a doctor in the Village of the Damned.  The man was versatile and only took roles that he believed in that would further himself and his skills.  Of course, he may have made some mistakes along the way as not every film he did was a winner, but every actor and actress has done the same thing.  This movie of course is also popular due to the little twist it gives as well as that phenomenal ending which sees Reeve get the better of his counterpart, Joe Mantegna.  Reeve plays a former police officer, injured in the line of duty which paralyses him from the waist down.  After discovering that his brother has been sleeping with his wife, he sets up an elaborate plan to get back at them, one with a real finality to it and Mantegna is a police officer who cannot help but think something is definitely wrong with the case and that Reeve’s character Dempsey Cain had something to do with it.

For his part Mantegna was pretty decent as Alan Rhineheart, giving his character the level of dogged determination needed to catch Cain in the act or to at least prove that he was responsible for the crime that was committed.  The beautiful Kim Cattrall who was in her prime when this film was made, would play Reeve’s scheming and cheating wife and would seem to have no qualms about only wearing her birthday suit in multiple scenes of the film.  Thankfully she could act too, though there was not much more required from her other than to be the eye-candy of the movie.  Probably the most interesting discovery you make when watching this film today is seeing a young Clark Gregg, someone you would have just glossed over at the time of its release but who is now an important part of the Marvel cinematic universe as well as starring weekly in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  It is actually a little weird to think he had a career before playing Agent Coulson.

Again, the ending of the film makes it all worth it.  It may have been a little slowly paced in places and some of the acting, particularly by Edward Kerr, a little amateurish, but it was a taut and suspenseful film.  It is a little sad to watch this picture now and not think about what happened to its main actor, but with movies we can at least escape that and immerse ourselves in a world where everything is all right.  In all, Above Suspicion was a fun and entertaining film and worth your time if only to see it once.

3.5 out of 5