Suspect Zero (2004)

Director:

E. Elias Merhige

Writers (WGA):

Zak Penn (story)
Zak Penn (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 August 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Who's next?

Plot:

A mysterious serial killer is hunting other serial killers - and one FBI agent suspects there may be more to the vigilante than they imagine.

Plot Keywords:

FBI | FBI Agent | Serial Killer | Salesman | Murder

Cast

Aaron Eckhart	...	Thomas Mackelway
Ben Kingsley	...	Benjamin O'Ryan
Carrie-Anne Moss	...	Fran Kulok
Harry Lennix	...	Rich Charleton
Kevin Chamberlin	...	Harold Speck
Julian Reyes	...	Highway Patrolman
Keith Campbell	...	Raymond Starkey
Chloe Russell	...	Loretta
Ellen Blake	...	Dolly
William B. Johnson	...	Mel
Jerry Gardner	...	Sheriff Harry Dylan
Daniel Patrick Moriarty	...	Bud Granger
Curtis Plagge	...	Jumbo
Nicole DeHuff	...	Katie Potter
William Mapother	...	Bill Grieves

Also Known As:

Suspect 0 (Philippines: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violent content, language and some nudity.

Runtime:

USA:99 min | Argentina:99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Norway:15 | Finland:K-15 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Portugal:M/16 | Ireland:15 | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:16 | Canada:18A | Germany:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #40067) | Australia:MA | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | South Africa:16 | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

$7.5 million of the budget came from the state of New Mexico through an interest-free loan. In return, the state will get 2.5% of the box office, until it makes $90 million or over, at which point they will get 3% of the gross.

Goofs:

Continuity: While Mackelway is reading his first fax, some of the pieces of paper on the right side of the bulletin board appear and disappear between shots.

Quotes:

Piper: Ever see a 50 foot shark?
Thomas Mackelway: I'm sorry?
Piper: A 50 foot shark. You ever seen one?
Thomas Mackelway: No.
Piper: Doesn't mean there aren't any.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2004-08-28)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

What a Dream It's Been

The kind of film that might have you stay awake when viewed on HBO at 2:30 in the morning

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