This movie has the makings of a cult favorite, mainly because it refuses to be a crowd pleaser. The audience actually has to work at following the story's build-up. Unfortunately, many want their movies to be purely spectator sport, and will leave the theatre with less than Suspect Zero had to offer them.
This is one of those movies that gets better with a second viewing, giving the watcher a chance to pick up subtleties that are obscured when one is trying to ride a complex plot to its resolution.
Director Merhige does an excellent job with atmosphere (who knew it rained so much in the desert of New Mexico?)and keeps the moviegoer as off-balance as Aaron Eckhart's FBI agent trying to piece together a jigsaw puzzle that is literally nationwide.
The storyline itself is a great premise, and unfolds nicely. It's too bad that previews and word-of-mouth gave away so much of the plot. If we could have been drawn into the FBI's original theory that Ben Kingsley was the dangerous serial killer-at-large, then each successive revelation would have been that much more effective.
As it is, Suspect Zero is a solid, even innovative story, with fine performances by Kingsley as the driven catalyst, Eckhart as the straight-looking FBI agent trying to live down a past mistake while trying to understand his own haunted psyche, and the underrated Carrie-Anne Moss as the agent walking a razor's edge between supporting her partner and getting dragged down again by his obsessions.
What has been lost to many critics is the comparison of the true serial killer of the piece to a force of nature. The allusions to the '50-foot shark' in the movie evoked other killing machines from Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws' and 'Duel'. The fact that, in the end, the true Suspect Zero was almost non-descript reinforces his threat as a cruel, random killing force.
The movie also satisfies a darker sense of justice within us. Just as Hannibal Lecter preys on the 'free-range rude', here we have an avenger who is willing to meet the serial killer at his own animal level. Who doesn't feel relief and triumph when the killer/rapist of an early scene gets what he deserves, just in the nick of time?
For me, Suspect Zero rates 8 out of 10.
This is one of those movies that gets better with a second viewing, giving the watcher a chance to pick up subtleties that are obscured when one is trying to ride a complex plot to its resolution.
Director Merhige does an excellent job with atmosphere (who knew it rained so much in the desert of New Mexico?)and keeps the moviegoer as off-balance as Aaron Eckhart's FBI agent trying to piece together a jigsaw puzzle that is literally nationwide.
The storyline itself is a great premise, and unfolds nicely. It's too bad that previews and word-of-mouth gave away so much of the plot. If we could have been drawn into the FBI's original theory that Ben Kingsley was the dangerous serial killer-at-large, then each successive revelation would have been that much more effective.
As it is, Suspect Zero is a solid, even innovative story, with fine performances by Kingsley as the driven catalyst, Eckhart as the straight-looking FBI agent trying to live down a past mistake while trying to understand his own haunted psyche, and the underrated Carrie-Anne Moss as the agent walking a razor's edge between supporting her partner and getting dragged down again by his obsessions.
What has been lost to many critics is the comparison of the true serial killer of the piece to a force of nature. The allusions to the '50-foot shark' in the movie evoked other killing machines from Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws' and 'Duel'. The fact that, in the end, the true Suspect Zero was almost non-descript reinforces his threat as a cruel, random killing force.
The movie also satisfies a darker sense of justice within us. Just as Hannibal Lecter preys on the 'free-range rude', here we have an avenger who is willing to meet the serial killer at his own animal level. Who doesn't feel relief and triumph when the killer/rapist of an early scene gets what he deserves, just in the nick of time?
For me, Suspect Zero rates 8 out of 10.