Rating: 
Summary: Terrific Movie, Poorly Presented
Review: A small, quirky gem that deserves a wider audience. Though the movie owes some of its style and substance to John Frankenheimer's "Seconds" and Sam Fuller's "Shock Corridor", it's an original, weird, and entertaining piece in its own right. Major complaint: MGM waited seven years to release this widescreen film on video; the least they could have done was to give us a letterbox version instead of "pan and scan". These guys never learn.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly put together with masterly maintenance of tone
Review: An anecdote doing the traps recently had an Australian tourist order a "short black" in a diner in the States. An electric hush fell over the clientele. The tourist meant a cup of coffee made with hot water not milk and without cream, milk or additives. Clearly, being black in America remains a significant negative element in that country's psyche or at least so it seems to outsiders. A number of American films continue to address that issue in any case. SUTURE is one of the better ones and has the quality of dream in that the viewer has their nerves tested throughout not knowing what is to come next. With a consistently high level of suspense, excellent use of sound, and stunning in black and white, with an intriguing take on identity, race and memory, this is one to own.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly put together with masterly maintenance of tone
Review: An anecdote doing the traps recently had an Australian tourist order a "short black" in a diner in the States. An electric hush fell over the clientele. The tourist meant a cup of coffee made with hot water not milk and without cream, milk or additives. Clearly, being black in America remains a significant negative element in that country's psyche or at least so it seems to outsiders. A number of American films continue to address that issue in any case. SUTURE is one of the better ones and has the quality of dream in that the viewer has their nerves tested throughout not knowing what is to come next. With a consistently high level of suspense, excellent use of sound, and stunning in black and white, with an intriguing take on identity, race and memory, this is one to own.
Rating: 
Summary: ridiculous
Review: Claiming to be an exploration of identity this film centres on the shadowy Vincent Towers (Michael Harris) and his half-brother Clay Arlington (Dennis Haysbert). Vincent attempts to fake his own death and use Clay as the corpse since they have such a "striking resemblence". The in-joke here is that Clay is black and Vincent white. The fact Haysbert can become Vincent after the failed accident is silly. He is heavier, has a different voice and a different personality, and the writer's don't appear to be making a comment on people's lack of observation. The nadir of this set-up is Mel Harris as Clay's plastic surgeon waxing rhapsodic about his face while removing sutures, as we see the opposite of what she describes. Perhaps if the writers had Harris remodel Clay into Michael Harris that would have taken a more interesting path. It seems the logical step since they present a video of Vincent with a convenient 360 degree pan around his face. Instead we get Clay battling amnesia with psychiatrist Sab Shimono, who has Rorshack wallpaper, smokes in session and quotes Freud and Shakespeare. I stayed with this film since McGehee and Siegal occasionally come up with something - a cut from the opening of one door to another, "Ring of Fire" on the soundtrack during the bombing accident, Mel's reflection in a hand mirror that Clay holds. But their dialogue is blather and they direct actors badly. Mel Harris just passes and Haysbert seems embarassed. Worse is Dina Merrill as Vincent's pseudo-lover, trapped in rich lady mannerisms, and arch Michael Harris, who is like Sebastian from Suddenly Last Summer.
Rating:
Summary: Suture
Review: I didn't think this film was going to hold my interest the way it did. The story centers on two Brothers Vincent And Clay, One White and one Black. When Vincent Sets up Clay for their fathers murder,but botches the job, Clay is then thrown into the world of wealth and fame as he is now thought to be Vincent. Without giving anymore away. I will say that this film is beautifully photographed in black and white which adds to the overall effectiveness of the film I give this film a 3 1/2 star rating. Check it out if you are tired of the run of the mill action fare
Rating: 
Summary: Eye Candy!
Review: I didn't think this film was going to hold my interest the way it did. The story centers on two Brothers Vincent And Clay, One White and one Black. When Vincent Sets up Clay for their fathers murder,but botches the job, Clay is then thrown into the world of wealth and fame as he is now thought to be Vincent. Without giving anymore away. I will say that this film is beautifully photographed in black and white which adds to the overall effectiveness of the film I give this film a 3 1/2 star rating. Check it out if you are tired of the run of the mill action fare
Rating:
Summary: People see what they want to see
Review: I think that's a main point of the movie. The "sophisticated" white society people are ready to embrace the persona of Vincent even though he is obviously black to the viewer of the film, as white, because they believe him to be a white man. The storyline becomes more surreal and incredulous as the plastic surgeon's efforts to recreate his disfigured face result in him not looking like the picture of the white person they had as a reference, but exactly the same as the black actor looked before all the surgery. The clincher for me was hearing the plastic surgeon talk about his nose as being narrow and sophisticated, even though his nose was (to the viewer) obviously a broader nose more typical for a black man - I took this to mean that the plastic surgeon was recreating him to conform not only to the picture but to the image they had of the wealthy socialite, but that only the viewing audience is able to see his true identity, the thing most feared by the white society people - a black "boogey man" (or any man from the "wrong side of the tracks") who unbeknownst to these people is courting and ends up marrying one of their "precious" white daughters . . . very reminiscent of politically charged racial/cultural tension movies of the 1950's and 1960's like "Rebel Without A Cause" or "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" and having strong references to "Romeo and Juliet" - see "West Side Story" !I think this theme is underscored by it having been shot in black-and-white - plus the many juxtapositions: the black and white ink blots another reviewer mentioned; on the street as the main character drives by, two identical minivans side by side, one black, one white; in the climax scene, the black actor's character is hiding behind a white shower curtain. You have to see this movie at least twice as you will be confused too long before you begin appreciating its artistry and oblique references the first time. In a way, this movie tests the viewer as well - it says "just accept the fact that this is a black actor playing a supposedly white character", requiring the viewer to appreciate only the actor's skill, not his skin color, as one should in all questions involving race - look at the person, not the skin color. So if you are disturbed by this movie, you may have to assess your own personal beliefs. The race-bending issue reminds me of the gender-bending actor's issues in "Shakespeare In Love" which portrays a subject that was equally taboo to many people in those days, and would have been equally disturbing to audiences of the period.
Rating:
Summary: People see what they want to see
Review: I think that's a main point of the movie. The "sophisticated" white society people are ready to embrace the persona of Vincent even though he is obviously black to the viewer of the film, as white, because they believe him to be a white man. The storyline becomes more surreal and incredulous as the plastic surgeon's efforts to recreate his disfigured face result in him not looking like the picture of the white person they had as a reference, but exactly the same as the black actor looked before all the surgery. The clincher for me was hearing the plastic surgeon talk about his nose as being narrow and sophisticated, even though his nose was (to the viewer) obviously a broader nose more typical for a black man - I took this to mean that the plastic surgeon was recreating him to conform not only to the picture but to the image they had of the wealthy socialite, but that only the viewing audience is able to see his true identity, the thing most feared by the white society people - a black "boogey man" (or any man from the "wrong side of the tracks") who unbeknownst to these people is courting and ends up marrying one of their "precious" white daughters . . . very reminiscent of politically charged racial/cultural tension movies of the 1950's and 1960's like "Rebel Without A Cause" or "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" and having strong references to "Romeo and Juliet" - see "West Side Story" ! I think this theme is underscored by it having been shot in black-and-white - plus the many juxtapositions: the black and white ink blots another reviewer mentioned; on the street as the main character drives by, two identical minivans side by side, one black, one white; in the climax scene, the black actor's character is hiding behind a white shower curtain. You have to see this movie at least twice as you will be confused too long before you begin appreciating its artistry and oblique references the first time. In a way, this movie tests the viewer as well - it says "just accept the fact that this is a black actor playing a supposedly white character", requiring the viewer to appreciate only the actor's skill, not his skin color, as one should in all questions involving race - look at the person, not the skin color. So if you are disturbed by this movie, you may have to assess your own personal beliefs. The race-bending issue reminds me of the gender-bending actor's issues in "Shakespeare In Love" which portrays a subject that was equally taboo to many people in those days, and would have been equally disturbing to audiences of the period.
Rating: 
Summary: Over my head I guess
Review: I watched the film from start to finish and had no clue what was going on. One brother is white and the other is black yet no one around the substituted brother notices the difference. I guess I need to start taking drugs to understand stuff like this.
Rating:
Summary: Over my head I guess
Review: I watched the film from start to finish and had no clue what was going on. One brother is white and the other is black yet no one around the substituted brother notices the difference. I guess I need to start taking drugs to understand stuff like this.
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