Starring: Brad Blaisdell, Suzanne May
Pitchforks: 4/5
Though categorized as a thriller, much of richness that comes from the locally filmed “Suspicion” develops from seeing two people build a friendship and understand each other’s views of life.
The film follows student Alicia Foret’s (Suzanne May) interactions with Darrell Jacobs (Brad Blaisdell), a regular that drops by her job in a coffee shop. Their lives change forever one night when Darrell saves Alicia from an assault. Initially, she has good reason to go to the police and report the crime, but Darrell’s advice on the way of the world stops her in one of the film’s best scenes.
The interactions between Alicia and Darrell take on an even more interesting quality because their roles in society seem to naturally conflict with each other — she’s learning to be a prosecutor at ASU, while Darrell, a former mobster, is someone whom Alicia might prosecute in her potential career. They shouldn’t be friends, but they learn to trust each other.
The actors in “Suspicion” give convincing, serviceable performances, but the breakout role belongs to Blaisdell, who’s a revelation. The actor — whose work has previously been confined to bit parts in movies like “The Negotiator,” “Executive Decision” and on procedural television dramas — gives a nice, minimalist performance as a former mobster. His character reaches the end of his life and is riddled with regret, wondering how it could have gone different. It’s a role that might have mishandled in lesser hands, yet Blaisdell and writer-director David Dilley keep it fresh and generally cliché free.
When watching the scene where he defends his actions to Alisha in a diner shortly after her attempted assault, it’s curious to know why it has taken this long for a director to cast Blaisdell in a substantial role. Blaisdell creates a fully rounded character who the audience knows well by the end of the film.
When the plot isn’t focused on the two main characters, the attention is given to Alicia’s boyfriend, Tom (Aiden Bristow) and his shady dealings. This plot almost seems perfunctory by comparison, despite being intertwined with Darrell’s story.
As far as first-time features go, it’s mostly a robust outing from Dilley.
Both Dilley and his director of photography, Danny Grunes, have a good eye for composition, which helps them apply their own unique vision of a dark, urban quality to Arizona. The film turns out to look gorgeous for a $100,000 budget.
Their eyes serve them well, even when they cinematically shoot the more common images Phoenix metropolitans encounter on a daily basis: areas around ASU, the high mountains in Papago Park, golf courses, and of course, the light rail.
“Suspicion” will play for a limited time at Harkins Valley Art Theatre from March 2-7.
Reach the reporter at tccoste1@asu.edu
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