Suspect Zero

After a series of grisly murders FBI Agent Mackelway suspects that they are linked. And that the killer may actually be after another serial killer who may or may not really exist. Naturally, his colleagues think that he is nuts, but that doesn't stop him from investigating.

This movie is a perfect example of flawed masterpiece. The plot is very interesting. The plot twists are surprising. The performances are good. The film's originality good enough to enjoy and the suspense is great. However, despite this there is still something missing. Something so critical that even though the film shines in many respects by the end you feel like you could have gotten so much more. That missing element would have to be part pace and part presentation. The film starts very slowly, but picks up once more clues are revealed by Mackelway. Though this is at least halfway through the movie. Then the presentation is a bit weird. It makes the film standout from others, but it also makes it confusing in parts, namely the beginning. Then by the time it is finished you feel more like you have just watched a good X-Files episode.

Overall it is a good mystery for patient audiences. --- 7/10

Rated R for grim violence

Aaron Eckhart is terrible as agent Thomas Mackelway on the hunt for a serial killer and Carrie-Anne Moss as another agent is wasted in this uneven film. The premise of the film is interesting but I can't reveal it because it would be considered a spoiler. Poor Ben Kingsley is relegated to acting with his "intense eyes" look for most of the film. Something is really lacking in this film because the idea is good but the execution is not. The direction is okay but there's not much suspense. The ending is very weak. Most of the film is confusing and there are large holes in the plot. Even the locale of New Mexico is wasted. I lived there an a lot more could have been done with it. Weakest of all are the characters who are distant and quite impersonal. I didn't hate the film but was disappointed that it wasn't done better. Blame the writer mostly for weak characterizations.

Suspect Zero, a new mystery/horror/thriller/detective-FBI film, tries to make a lot of twists and turns in telling a story that is perhaps all-too-simple at the core. While the acting is fair by the leads (Kingsley, as a man who may or may not be the suspect, plays a tortured soul better than anyone I can think of; Eckhardt and Moss are credible if maybe mis-matched), the script is something of a turn-off. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense, despite a cameo from Robert Towne (uncredited on this site) as a professor who tries to give a little explaining to the FBI agent played by Eckhardt. It's not that the idea of it isn't bad, but it doesn't engage a viewer in a way other thrillers can.

What the film has going for it is the direction. This is E. Elias Merhige's third film after his impenetrable art-house film Begotten (arguably one of the most pretentious, deranged, if unique debuts of the 90's) and small success Shadow of a Vampire (a film that gave Malkovich and Dafoe excellent screen time as silent film icons). The style is more than flamboyant- it's madness. Merhige tries his best to get inside the atmosphere that this killer and it's tracker(s) are in, and he succeeds by almost trying too hard. It reminded me of a kind of avant-garde approach to directing one of those HBO thrillers you might catch late at night. While he doesn't do a job as memorable as 'Shadow', and outside of Kingsley and maybe Eckhardt doesn't elicit very good acting, him and Michael (Raging Bull/Taxi Driver) Chapman bring out a technical aspect with tints and angles and shots that aren't too diverting.

It's the kind of film that misses the mark of great, twisted, FBI-serial killer murder mysteries, and I would not seek it out to rent, but it didn't leave too sour of a taste in my mouth, and I didn't want to walk out of it midway either. It's average fare that could've been better, could've been a lot worse. (strong) C

Coming from Dallas after a suspension and a breakdown, FBI agent Thomas Mackelway (Aaron Eckhart) arrives in Dallas when a salesman is killed in a hideous crime. Mackelway is in charge of the investigation and the chief of the agency calls for backup, arriving agent Fran Kulok (Carrie-Anne Moss), who had a past with Mackelway. The leads guide them to Benjamin O'Ryan (Ben Kinsley), a man that claims to be a former FBI agent, and considered a random killing machine. Mackelway becomes obsessed trying to find the truth.

I saw the trailer of "Suspect Zero" and I really expected a great thriller. The cinematography and atmosphere are really excellent, the cast with Ben Kinsley, Carrie-Anne Moss and Aaron Eckhart is very above average, but unfortunately the screenplay does not work well. The idea is original, the story discloses in a good pace, but something is missing to accomplish my excessive expectations. Nevertheless, watching "Suspect Zero" is worthwhile and my vote is six.

Titçe (Brazil): "Suspeito Zero" ("Suspect Zero")

There's a few interesting twists and turns in this film but not nearly enough to save it. Ben Kingsley gives a wonderful performance as a man that has spent too many years looking through the eyes of monsters. Aaron Eckhart is intense as the agent on the hunt. However, Carrie-Anne Moss seems to have text messaged her performance in. The camera work looked good, but was so formula it could have been straight out of a cinematography textbook. It uses virtually every camera trick ever seen in every movie Hitchcock ever made. "Suspect Zero" has the potential to be a thoroughly spellbinding film, but manages to come up short. Out of five stars, I'd rate it 2.5.