SUTURE: GREAT IF YOU SUSPEND BELIEF

I can remember the first time I saw this movie. I was watching and providing ratings part time for Joe Bob Briggs’ newsletter. A box of VHS tapes would show, you’d watch them, send ratings and then pass them on to the next person. Watching this film at that time I didn’t get it. It made no sense to me. A black man and a white man identical to one another? And yet it works now.

Two brothers, Vincent (Michael Harris) and Clay (Dennis Haysbert) meet at their father’s funeral and are stunned at how near identical they look to one another. While Vincent has lived a life of wealth around his father Clay has been poor with less interaction. Vincent invites Clay to stay with him and he thinks things are looking up. Except that in reality Vincent intends to shoot kill Clay and leave his body behind to make everyone think he is dead.

Shot in the face, Clay survives the murder attempt. Dealing with amnesia Clay has had his features restored by Dr. Renee Descartes (Mel Harris). As he pieces together the remnants of his memory Clay is now mistaken for Vincent. Few have any idea that Clay actually existed. To complicate matters “Vincent” is the lead suspect in the murder of his father by Lieutenant Weismann (David Graf). As Clay slowly begins to put back together the memories of who he was he is faced with a question: does he go back to being poor Clay or does he take on the mantle of wealthy Vincent? And if so, what of the real Vincent?

As I said when I first saw this I didn’t get why anyone would think that Haysbert, a black actor, would think he looked identical to Harris, a white actor. The two look nothing alike. But this time around as I watched I saw the method to the madness. If you suspend belief and accept that these two are identical then everything falls into place. It is the concept that we, as an audience, are watching actors in roles rather than reality that sets their differences aside and allows us to accept them as the characters they are playing. Once you get past that then the story becomes a fascinating mystery.

Arrow Video has outdone themselves this time with a 4k restoration from the original camera negative. The presentation, shot in black and white, is crystal clear (unlike the old VHS version I saw years ago). Extras include an audio commentary track with writer/directors David Siegel and Scott McGehee, all new interviews with Siegel, McGehee, executive producer Steven Soderbergh, Haysbert, cinematographer Greg Gardiner, editor Lauren Zuckerman and production designer Kelly McGehee, deleted scenes, BIRDS PAST the first short film by Siegel and McGehee, the US trailer, the European trailer and a reversible sleeve with newly commissioned artwork.

I fully understand that this movie might not be for everyone but if you give it a chance, if you suspend belief, then you will end up having a movie worth discovering. It is the story that matters not the look of the actors telling it. That they are excellent actors helps with the momentum of the film. When viewed years ago I wouldn’t have thought of watching the film a second time. Now it has become a part of my collection, a film to watch every now and then. It’s that good.

Click here to order.