Suspect Zero (5/10 Rating)
Released August 27, 2004
Streaming on Amazon Prime. For rent/purchase on all major platforms.
Genre: Crime, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
R: Violent Content, Language, and Some Nudity
1h 39m
Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Schindler’s List) plays a serial killer…that kills serial killers. That sentence should be enough to pique your interest. Unfortunately, Suspect Zero fails to do anything interesting with these characters and this story. Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) and Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix) play the FBI agents tracking down Kingsley’s mysterious killer. All three do great with what they are given, which sadly is pretty generic in this genre. Showing the main serial killer committing his form of justice from the beginning is nothing new, and it can work, but all the surprises seemed revealed very slowly with uncertainty. The excitement of watching a mystery thriller like this unfold is the viewer joining the investigators on their discovery journey, but here it feels either spoon fed too soon, or left too open to interpretation. It is an odd mix and confusing throughout the entire film. There is some kind of history between the two FBI agents, but it never gets explored. The concept behind Kingsley’s character’s motivation is actually the most interesting part, and should have been more of the focus. Instead, they fixate on the classic serial killer formulas, and it lacks anything special. Think of this as a less exciting Seven or Silence of the Lambs. Apparently, this script was around for about seven years before it was finally rewritten and produced. It is clear no one had a clear vision of what story they wanted to tell. Tom Cruise was attached as a producer, but had his name removed from the production. Somewhere lies a very compelling story, but not Suspect Zero. Perchance. Don’t come seeking some missed amazing performance from Ben Kingsley. He is great, but the character is fairly boring and wasted on him. Any of the three leads could be played by just about any A-list actor. Take your pick and the movie still misses the mark. If you can’t get enough true crime or serial killer stories, it is worth a watch, but otherwise, this genre is packed with many more interesting Movies You Missed. If you can find a copy, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, also released this month, is an excellent biopic with a must see performance from Geoffrey Rush. Next month we revisit Shaun of the Dead and see how it holds up 20 years later.
Also released in August 2004: Collateral, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, Exorcist: The Beginning, AVP: Alien Vs. Predator, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Open Water (follow @jlucia85 for these reviews and more)
