Guilty by Suspicion

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Guilty by Suspicion ★★½ 1991 (PG-13)

Examination of the 1950s McCarthy investigations by the House Un-American Activities Committee comes off like a bland history lesson. De Niro plays a director who attended a Communist party meeting in the ‘30s but who otherwise doesn't have any red connections. He takes the moral high ground and refuses to incriminate his buddy (Wendt) to get off the hook and finds himself blacklisted. Characterized by average performances (excepting Wettig who goes overboard) and a lightweight script. “The Front” (1976) does a better job on this topic. Directorial debut for producer Winkler. 105m/ C VHS, DVD . Robert De Niro, Annette Bening, George Wendt, Patricia Wettig, Sam Wanamaker, Chris Cooper, Ben Piazza, Martin Scorsese, Barry Primus, Gailard Sartain, Stuart Margolin, Barry Tubb, Roxann Biggs-Dawson, Robin Gammell, Brad Sullivan, Luke Edwards, Adam Baldwin, Stephen (Steve) Root, Tom Sizemore, Illeana Douglas, Jon Tenney; D: Irwin Winkler; W: Irwin Winkler; C: Michael Ballhaus; M: James Newton Howard.