A taut, effective serial killer thriller.
Suspect Zero (2004)
Tomatometer
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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
Reviews for Suspect Zero
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.
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.
Snappy technique can’t disguise the fact that this is a tired pastiche of the serial killer classics that have come before it.
Moody, earnest and not particularly involving, film oozes with pretension and mediocre performances.**
The kind of by-the- numbers psychological/ action thriller that Paramount Pictures routinely makes with Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman.
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.
Merhige, whose last film was the clever and creepy Shadow of the Vampire, seems to have succumbed to Big Picture Disease here.
...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.
Here's a tale of when mediocre movies happen to mega-talented talents...
Essentially an X-files episode that wishes it were as disturbing and visually arresting as David Fincher's Seven (it's not).
Fancy camera-work and Sir Ben Kingsley do not manage to make this thriller into anything more than a misfire
Suspect Zero is trying so hard to be deliberately stylish that it forgets there's an interesting premise underneath all that vanity.
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.
Challenging, infuriating, hate it or love it, it has the distinction of being unforgettable
Latest News for Suspect Zero
July 06, 2007:
Warner Bros. Planning a Remake of "The Dirty Dozen"
At first I was completely annoyed when I read the news. Then I heard who was writing the remake, and I felt a little bit better. More...
April 28, 2006:
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While the hiring of Jon Favreau as "Iron Man" director is pretty exciting movie-geek news, it seems that Marvel's Avi Arad has a whole bunch of new projects just... More...
June 13, 2005:
Weinsteins Snatch Up Bruce Willis' "Lucky Number"
Despite the fact that Bob & Harvey Weinstein still don't even have a name for their new movie company, that certainly hasn't prevented the boys from doing some business.... More...
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