Plot: What’s it about?
Callum Crane (Bill Pullman) is one of the top lawyers in the country, to the extent to that soon enough, he will appointed to a federal bench. He has won countless cases and even in his personal life, he hasn’t had much trouble with getting what he wants. But when he tries to get his young assistant Sophie (Gabrielle Anwar), he finds himself turned down time and again. The rejections don’t seem to stop him however and when he gets a little too drunk, he forces himself onto her and risks his entire career & life in the process. At the same time, a young man named Nathan (Devon Sawa) has come to see his biological father, who happens to be Crane. But before the two even know who is who, Crane offers Nathan a stack of cash to kill Sophie, no questions asked. Nathan takes the cash and tells his buddies about it, but refuses to proceed with the task and decides to ditch the payment in total. But now one of his friends has taken up the mission and unless Nathan can prevent it, Sophie will end up dead and Crane will go unpunished for his crimes.
I’ve seen more suspense thrillers than I ever imagined and as I always say, you have to dig through an ocean of bad ones to find a good one. As such, I never hold much hope for these thrillers unless the hook is superb and with The Guilty, the hook was not too impressive. Anthony Waller (An American Werewolf in Paris, Mute Witness) serves as director and does a decent task, as far as low budget, direct to video thrillers are concerned. He keeps the pace smooth and pulls off the twists well enough, which is about all you can expect, given the rather weak material. The premise is not too original in the first place, but this movie quickly turns into a by the numbers thrillers, complete with telegraphed twists and turns. Even so, those in need of a new thriller that can tame their expectations won’t be too let down, but I think this is for thriller junkies only, to be honest. Bill Pullman, Devon Sawa, Joanna Whaley, Gabrielle Anwar, and Angela Featherstone turn in decent enough performances, but even they can’t save this one from the rental only curse.
I was very pleased to see Gabrielle Anwar on the cast here and in truth, she is one of the main reasons it remains just average, as opposed to awful. She has a decent sized role here and even with some lacking material to work with, she manages to be quite good and keeps the audience locked onto her, which is impressive. I do wish she had more depth to her role, but even with a weaker character, her true skills shine through, which is what counts. She proves she can stand firm with all of her fellow cast members and while she is very beautiful, she is much more than a pretty face, to be sure. You can also see Anwar in such films as Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal, Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken, Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead, and If You Only Knew. The cast also includes Bill Pullman (Brokedown Palace, Lost Highway), Devon Sawa (Final Destination, Around the Fire), Angela Featherstone (Con Air, The Wedding Singer), and Joanne Whaley (A Texas Funeral, The Man Who Knew Too Little).
Video: How does it look?
The Guilty is presented in a 1.85:1 widescreen transfer, which is not enhanced for widescreen televisions. This is a good looking visual presentation, but the lack of anamorphic enhancement causes some problems, as expected. The image isn’t all that sharp and I saw more than a few cases of edge enhancement, which lessened the experience. This transfer is still more than solid however, with accurate contrast levels, stable color presence, and natural flesh tones. I do wish it was anamorphic however, as it shows the problems you’d expect from a simple letterbox presentation.
Audio: How does it sound?
The included Dolby Digital 5.1 track is a good one, but it lacks the refinement and presence that higher budget, more action driven flicks might have. Even so, this material doesn’t need a wealth of dynamic presence and since this track supplies some good atmospheric effects, it all turns out well enough in the end. The sound effects sound terrific here and as I mentioned, the atmosphere is well done, lots of tension to be felt. The musical soundtrack is also well presented, while dialogue remains crisp and easy to understand, good work indeed. This disc also includes subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc is labeled as a Millennium Series release, but it holds only the film’s trailer, which makes this disc a total let down in terms of extras.
