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Movies / On DVD / Suspect Zero
Suspect Zero

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Suspect Zero (2004)

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Reviews Counted:127

Fresh:22

Rotten:105

Average Rating:4.4/10

Consensus: Other than Ben Kingsley, there's not much to like in this preposterous thriller.

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: It's 4 AM and torrents of rain pour down on a dusty roadside New Mexico diner. Inside, an innocuous looking salesman sips coffee while catching up on his fishing magazines. After the front door... It's 4 AM and torrents of rain pour down on a dusty roadside New Mexico diner. Inside, an innocuous looking salesman sips coffee while catching up on his fishing magazines. After the front door creaks open, an unusual looking man startles the salesman by sitting down at his table and displaying frightening drawings that send the salesman fleeing for the safety of his car. We meet Agent Thomas Mackelway on his first day of work at the Albuquerque field office of the FBI. Mackelway, wrestling with secrets and demons from his past, is plagues by headaches and feels that he is being watched. And in fact he is... but by whom? Mackelway finds himself mysteriously drawn into a bizarre series of murders: the salesman from the diner found dead in his car on the deserted New Mexico border; a sixth grade teacher from Boulder, Co. discovered in an abandoned vehicle in the diner parking lot; and Mackelay's own personal nemesis, killed while attacking a young girl. Mackelway's former partner, Fran Kulok, who knows Mackelway's deepest secrets, is sent to Albuquerque to assist him on the case. Together, they set out to solve this lethal puzzle. What do these murders have in common? The case becomes increasingly personal as Mackelway's determination turns to obsession. The killer seems to be taunting him, faxing him hundreds of maddening, chilling clues, all of which point to a cunning renegade named Benjamin O'Ryan. Trained in a secret government remote viewing program which enabled five elite agents to get into the hearts and minds of killers and their victims, O'Ryan became consumed with tracking the ultimate manifestation of a killer -- Suspect Zero. -- © Paramount Pictures [More]

Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Ben Kingsley, Carrie-Anne Moss, Harry J. Lennix

Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Ben Kingsley, Carrie-Anne Moss, Harry J. Lennix

Director: E. Elias Merhige

Director: E. Elias Merhige
Screenwriter: Billy Ray, Zak Penn
Producer: Paula Wagner
Composer: Clint Marsell
Studio: Paramount Pictures

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Reviews for Suspect Zero

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

A taut, effective serial killer thriller.

Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment Comment
08/26/04
Victoria Alexander
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com

What a mess. What in the world is this stupid miasma supposed to be?

Full Review Source: Denton Record Chronicle (TX) | comment Comment
09/01/04
Boo Allen
Boo Allen
Denton Record Chronicle (TX)

It's not easy to make a thriller that's both incredibly convoluted and intensely boring, but director E. Elias Merhige scores on both counts with this lame excuse for a spooky crime story.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
08/27/04
Ethan Alter
Ethan Alter
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Merhige gets plenty of mileage out of these visions and the creepy, metallic sound design and score, almost managing to snuff out the film's more ordinary attributes.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
09/03/04
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

A structural mess.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
08/26/04
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Snappy technique can’t disguise the fact that this is a tired pastiche of the serial killer classics that have come before it.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
08/25/04
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly

Moody, earnest and not particularly involving, film oozes with pretension and mediocre performances.**

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
08/30/04
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

The kind of by-the- numbers psychological/ action thriller that Paramount Pictures routinely makes with Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
08/27/04
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

Instead of building suspense and tension, Suspect Zero devotes its efforts to creating a weird and creepy milieu that will leave fans of police procedurals wanting and avant-garde enthusiasts scratching their heads.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
08/29/04
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

Merhige, whose last film was the clever and creepy Shadow of the Vampire, seems to have succumbed to Big Picture Disease here.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
08/28/04
Lewis Beale
Lewis Beale
Film Journal International

[A] pretentiously made and excruciatingly dull thriller.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
08/27/04
Amy Biancolli
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle

...enough of a departure from genre routine to keep thriller-savvy film watchers engaged, but not enough of a departure to leave a lasting impression.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
08/25/04
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

Here's a tale of when mediocre movies happen to mega-talented talents...

Full Review Source: Blunt Review | comment Comment
08/26/04
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Blunt Review

Suspect Zero will have you recoiling in your seat.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
08/27/04
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

Essentially an X-files episode that wishes it were as disturbing and visually arresting as David Fincher's Seven (it's not).

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
10/11/06
Russ Breimeier
Russ Breimeier
Christianity Today

Call it, Payoff Zero!

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
09/02/04
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

Fancy camera-work and Sir Ben Kingsley do not manage to make this thriller into anything more than a misfire

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
08/27/04
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Suspect Zero is trying so hard to be deliberately stylish that it forgets there's an interesting premise underneath all that vanity.

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
09/27/04
Guylaine Cadorette
Guylaine Cadorette
Hollywood.com

Plays like a David Lynch movie thwarted by studio-mandated rewrites and...executives hoping for another Se7en but willing to settle for another Taking Lives.

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
08/26/04
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

Challenging, infuriating, hate it or love it, it has the distinction of being unforgettable

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
08/21/04
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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