Tries so hard to be clever and surprising by withholding information that it ends up being a confused mess.
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
US Box Office: $8,570,393
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
Not so remote viewers can sense what the movie could have been instead of the result that's now in front of their eyes.
Suspect Zero is somewhat suspenseful in spots, but it is never scary.
The film merely winds up being just another depressing exercise that confuses faulty plotting and icky visuals with intelligent filmmaking.
Just doesn’t make sense. In a movie, you can’t just have the giant pretzel and the ice cream cone. You’ve got to explain why it’s all there.
If it's true that the state of New Mexico floated an interest-free, $7.5 million loan for the makers of Suspect Zero in exchange for 2.5% of the film's profits, look for a taxpayer revolt in the Land of Enchantment.
Here's a tale of when mediocre movies happen to mega-talented talents...
[B]y far the most fascinating failure of the year so far... [A]ssumes a sense of adventure and intelligence on the audience’s part that is all too rare at the multiplex.
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.
Perhaps a better title for this mess would have been Avenging Angels in America or, better yet, The Silence of the Logic.
Finally, a serial-killer movie so preposterous it may actually put a permanent kibosh on this tediously overworked crime subgenre.
There are some surprising turns of the story, and Eckhart and Kingsley are watchable performers, but Suspect Zero never escapes the rut of a standard serial-killer whodunit.
Take away all the excitement, intrigue, mystery, sci-fi, performances and movement from Minority Report and we’d still be a few rings above Suspect Zero.
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:
Thor, Hulk, Captain America ... and a Few More New Marvels
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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