‘Beyond a Reasonable Doubt’ reviews
Amber Tamblyn image from Wikimedia.
It takes a lot for a film to get 0 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. That means no one, not one single critic, gave the film a good review. “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” reviews are in, and it’s unanimous: no one likes this film.
Over at Metacritic, one reviewer gave it a positive review, though not a great one. “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” reviews at Metacritic gave the film a final score of 35. While that’s better than getting another zero, it’s still not good news.
A big waste of money?
This is especially bad news for the producers of “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt,” who paid $25 million to make this movie. Of course, bad reviews don’t always translate into bad box office performance, but the “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” reviews are worse than bad. Let’s just say if a personal loan company got these reviews, it’d shut down in no time.
That is a whole lot of money to throw at a film — especially one that is only opening in five theaters this weekend. If the filmmakers were trying to waste $25 million and have nothing to show for it, they did a great job.
Beyond a reasonable remake
Perhaps choosing to do a remake of the 1956 film “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” was a bad idea. Perhaps film critics just hate thrillers. Either way, Frank Scheck at The Hollywood Reporter pretty much speaks for everyone when he says “This incarnation suffers from a bloated running time nearly a half-hour longer than the original and several gratuitous actions sequences that don’t add appreciably to the suspense level.”
He also says that the stars of “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt,” Amber Tamblyn and Jesse Metcalfe have no charisma and deliver lackluster performances, to put it nicely. Entertainment Weekly had good things to say about Michael Douglas’ performance bur ripped into Metcalfe, saying his performance wasn’t believable for a second.
One fan speaks up
So who is this singular critic who gave a good review of “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt”? That would be Ella Taylor from NPR. She gave the film a 60 percent, which amounts to a positive review, but it also amounts to a 40 percent negative criticism.
“Lang’s 1956 thriller — about an allegedly noble journalist setting a trap for a possibly crooked lawyer — was, to put it mildly, a creature of its time. In the age of Jayson Blair, Eliot Spitzer and their disgraced ilk, it’s hard to surprise young people with a yarn about corruption in high places, even when it’s festooned with tech-toys and timely references to a sagging economy,” Taylor writes.
So what did she like about the film well enough to give it an overall positive review? She says the car chases are “gripping” and she liked the explosions. Hm, not much to go on there
More comments from the peanut gallery
The New York Times‘ “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” reivew politely says the film is “flawed” an impolitely makes fun of Michael Douglas’ hair. Another big name, Orlando Jones, also graces the cast list in “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt,” and the NYT critic says his role in the film is “too brief.”
Peter Travers from Rolling Stone calls Douglas “the only life in this dull party,” and gives “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” one sad star. He says director Peter Hyams knows nothing about suspense, pacing and storytelling.Village Voice critic Melissa Anderson agrees, saying it’s an “empty, completely unnecessary” film.
