Majikat A film I've passed over many times and yet, it yicks so many boxes for me. One of those escalating stories with list of layers, glad I finally checked it out.

The Couchpotatoes I find a lot of reviewers on here a bit too harsh for this movie. It deserves clearly better then it's actual ratings. Not that it is an excellent movie or so, far from that, but I would watch it again in the future when I forgot about it. There are a ton of movies I watch once and that I will never watch again but this one is not one of them. The story isn't bad, maybe a bit predictable but still with a couple of twists and some suspense. Dominic Cooper and Samuel L. Jackson made this movie enjoyable to watch. The filming was also okay, nothing wrong to say about that. Believe me there are way worse crime thrillers than this one. So I really don't get what the problem is if you like this genre of movies because it totally fits this genre.

jb0579 I never include plot synapses in my reviews as you can find this elsewhere. I spend my time praising or panning movies based on their merit or lack there of. Despite my agreement of another reviewer's comment "A good idea done badly", the movie just doesn't work. I'll say that Samuel Jackson in always good, and the Co star here held up as well as could be expected given other factors, and even supporting players like the brother were well cast. Heck I'll even go so far as to say that parts of this movie were well directed and shot, and that set design was even decent -all things, including lighting and editing, that I pay attention to. But she just don't hold water. Why? Holes, bad plot devices, obvious foreshadowing, etc. I know what you're thinking - I spent the first half of my review praising this thing and now you want examples of why I panned it. Fine. Holes: For starters, a main part of the court scenes here (some of the worst ever caught on celluloid, mote on that in a bit) was Mitch's (Dominic Cooper) thick Chicago accent. Just ask the court linguist, who despite not being blind sat motionless, monotone, staring at a spot near the prosecutor's belt buckle (it was a creepy performance - obviously the money a lot Ted for that actor went to procure Jackson for HIS role). OK so Mitch's thick Chicago accent. Good idea, all well and good, except Dominic Cooper in an English actor and although he hides this well, he uses the default east coast accent that many British actors use when a dialect coach isn't used. See Daniel Day Lewis on this....he us meticulous about his American dialects. Same with Mitch's brother Jimmy (Ryan Robblins) who is from Vancouver (Seattle for all intents and purposes) - east coast sound, not Chicago. Obvious foreshadowing: at a critical point, Mitch loses a wad of business cards near a victim. Are you serious? He scoops them up hastily but you know how this will be used. Just a bad, bad idea. So many other ways to establish his presence there than dropper business cards. Obvious Bad Plot Devices: there is a killer on the prowl. The cops have all their best men on it, as does the D.A's office. It takes them seemingly forever to ascertain that ALL of the victims are linked as they are all ex-cons on parole. What's worse, they're able to link someone based on that scant fact and.....ugh. I'm just getting frustrated. As I said, Sam, Dominic, Ryan, and Gloria Reubens all put in a good effort, but a good idea was crucified by, I'm assuming, the editors or the producers, given the fact that director Peter Howitt (Antitrust) used a pseudonym (Peter Croudins) for his direction credit on this pile. Jackson, holder of a Guiness Book of World Records nod for most bankable star in film history (It's true, look it up), was the dollar- store glue that held this all together. I say dollar-store because is was BARELY held together. They were so close: decent actors, a workable plot, a decent director who managed some gorgeous shots through falling snow and night time scenes.....but alas it all falls flat. A good idea done badly, indeed.

David Arnold After a night of celebration Mitch Brockden, a young and cocky District Attorney, becomes involved in a car accident by knocking over a man who runs out in front of him. Panicking, he calls 911 and then leaves the scene. Brockden then soon learns that the man he ran over was murdered after he left the scene, and that police have a suspect by the name of Clinton Davis in custody. Brockden is assigned to the case, but believing that the wrong man is being charged, he deliberately throws the case ending in Davis being found not guilty. Unfortunately for Mitch, as he delves deeper, he begins to realise that there is much more to Davis than meets the eye.Reasonable Doubt is pretty much your run-of-the-mill crime thriller...nothing more, nothing less. It's a decently told story, but it's nothing really to get too excited about. The film is actually pretty rushed to be honest and it would probably have been better if there was another 30 minutes of it. It just goes by pretty fast. I mean one minute it's only an IF it goes to court, then the next thing you see it's basically half way through the trial. If the story was told with a bit more detail, like I say, I think it would have been better.It's not really an original story either and this type of plot has been done plenty of times before. I'm not complaining because the film was pretty enjoyable, but if you want originality then you'd be best looking elsewhere.Decently acted as well, especially by Jackson (but that goes without saying really), but Dominic Cooper is a touch over-the-top in some parts in portraying his character.Overall, Reasonable Doubt isn't too bad of a film to watch and you could do worse.