Benefit of the Doubt (1993 film)

Benefit of the Doubt
Benefit of the Doubt
Directed by	Jonathan Heap
Written by	Jeffrey Polman; Christopher Keyser;
Story by	Michael Lieber
Produced by	Dieter Geissler [de]; Brad M. Gilbert; Michael Spielberg;
Starring	Donald Sutherland; Amy Irving;
Cinematography	Johnny E. Jensen
Music by	Hummie Mann
Production; companies	CineVox Filmproduktion; Benefit Productions; Monument Pictures
Distributed by	CineVox Filmverleih
Release date	17 June 1993;
Running time	90 minutes
Country	Germany
Language	English

Benefit of the Doubt (German: Im Bann des Zweifels) is a 1993 English-language German thriller film directed by Jonathan Heap and starring Donald Sutherland and Amy Irving.^[1]^[2]

It was released on July 16, 1993, in the United States by Miramax Films, marking the first film to be released by Miramax after being acquired by The Walt Disney Company.

Plot[edit]

Karen, a life-weary single-mother and waitress finds her life disrupted when her father, Frank, is finally released after 20 years in the State Pen. It was she who provided the key testimony that had him convicted of uxoricide. She still believes he did it, but is unable to remember the exact details of the traumatic event. This thriller chronicles the events that follow her father's return.

First of all he begins ingratiating himself with her young son and her lover. Angered, she confronts him, but finds him too persuasively charming to stay angry. He then convinces her that her memory is faulty and that her mother died accidentally. She believes him and accepts him back. The tale takes a much darker turn, when her father begins isolating her from her friends and dominating her life. It is soon after she announces her intent to marry Dan that a new string of killings begin. Around that time certain events trigger Karen's dormant memories and she realizes that she knows the truth about her father.

Cast[edit]

Donald Sutherland as Frank
Amy Irving as Karen Braswell
Rider Strong as Pete Braswell
Christopher McDonald as Dan
Graham Greene as Calhoun
Theodore Bikel as Gideon Lee
Gisela Kovach as Suzanna
Ferdy Mayne as Mueller
Julie Hasel as Young Karen
Patricia Tallman as Karen's mother
Ralph McTurk as Trooper
Shane McCabe as Wayland

Production[edit]

Parts of the film were shot at Glen Canyon in Utah as well as Camp Verde, Clarkdale, Cottonwood and Sedona in Arizona.^[3]

References[edit]

^ Leonard Maltin. Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide. Penguin Group, 1997.
^ Emanuel Levy (July 19, 1993). "Review: 'Benefit of the Doubt'". Variety. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
^ D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: a history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 978-1-4236-0587-4.

External links[edit]

[1] Leonard Maltin. Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide. Penguin Group, 1997.

[2] Emanuel Levy (July 19, 1993). "Review: 'Benefit of the Doubt'". Variety. Retrieved 31 October 2015.

[3] D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: a history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 978-1-4236-0587-4.

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