a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Suspect Zero is an interesting piece, particularly to me. Although it's almost universally looked at as a failure, a shell of what it could have been, I'm crazy about it the way it is and think they did a fantastic job. It has a bit of a muddy past: Zak Penn wrote the script back in the 90's, after which it gained much interest from the likes of Tom Cruise, Ben Affleck and others. It took til 2004 to finally get the film made, with a version that many frown upon and frankly consider a shitty movie. Balls to them. It's a grim, eerie serial killer chiller with an atmosphere thick enough to slice with a razor, and one extremely unsettling lead performance from a haggard, haunted Ben Kingsley. He plays Benjamin O Ryan, an ex FBI agent. Or is he? He's efficiently hunting down and murdering random people (or are they?), leaving vicious visual calling cards and deliberately leaving victims lying on state lines to ensure the Bureau's involvement. In particular he takes a shine to raw boned Agent Mackleway (Aaron Eckhart), leaving specific clues for him. O Ryan employs a metaphysical method of finding his victims, using an old psychic technique from a scrapped program the feds once explored. This gives the filmmakers a reason to throw sketchy, disconcerting images, sounds and editing our way, providing a visually and aurally chafing experience. The film's director, E. Elias Merhige, is infamous for making the surreal, experimental shocker 'Begotten', and he brings the same stark, discomforting qualities to the proceedings here. I'm reminded of another experimental director who brought a near elemental aesthetic to an otherwise grounded serial killer flick: Tarsem Singh with his brilliant psychological fantasy 'The Cell'. Suspect Zero is the grimy, fragmentary cousin to The Cell's grandiose beauty. There's also traces of Sev7n, Silence Of The Lambs, Millennium and more, yet the film finds its own groove and never sinks into derivative gestures. Composer Clint Mansell ditches his trademark celestial tones for something truly unique, a dread soaked nightmarish lullaby that gives the film an otherworldly tone to linger in dreams. If you can forgive a few instances of murky plotting and one or two cheap plot turns, you'll hopefully enjoy this as much as me. It really deserves better attention and praise than its got so far.

I've been watching so many terrible movies lately I almost don't know what to say about a decent film. "Suspect Zero" was definitely good.Agent Thomas Mackelway (Aaron Eckhart) is demoted to the Albuquerque F.B.I. field office from the Dallas field office. Right away you can tell that he is a big fish in a small pond and would rather be anywhere else. Before he can settle into his new digs he is thrust into a murder case chasing down Benjamin O'Ryan (Ben Kingsley) who is so elusive that he seems almost supernatural.For those who like cop movies this is a nice addition to the collection. There is the old fashion following the evidence with the small bonus of a killer that's seemingly taunting agent Mackelway. The whodunit aspect is a non-factor as the face of the killer is shown to the audience right away, but there is always the 'why'. And most of the time the 'why' is far more interesting than the 'who'.There is moderate intensity and solid acting. Ben Kingsley delivers really well as the near psychotic killer. But if you're thinking--"Oh, another psychotic genius that must be stopped. How original,"--don't. Yes he is a bit psychotic and he has above average intelligence but that's where the parallels end with all other similar movies. It's worth a watch.

Directed by E. Elias Merhige, Suspect Zero follows the disgraced FBI Agent Thomas Mackelway, who was transferred to a desolate area in Albuquerque, New Mexico as punishment for botching a procedure which ultimately led to the release of one of the most notorious criminals on the FBI's list.It features Aaron Eckhart,Ben Kingsley and Carrie-Anne Moss together with Kevin Chamberlin and Harry J. Lennix.Mackelway is given an opportunity to redeem himself, however, when he is called in to investigate the strange murder of a traveling salesman. Mysteriously, the mark of a circle with a line through it is the only clue that the killer left behind. Before long, the prime suspect is identified as former agent Benjamin O'Ryan, who is seemingly obsessed with hunting down serial killers and murdering them rather than turning them in to the proper authorities. Though Mackelway believes he knows the area where O'Ryan is living, he has no idea what he looks like a problem that the rogue agent exploits with great success. Despite his brilliance, Mackelway finds himself caught in a psychological labyrinth of sorts, and is faced with an even greater quandary after learning that O'Ryan is looking for none other than Suspect Zero, a murderer of hundreds and the FBI's most wanted man.The movie is that rare case of a dull idea redeemed by sharp talent.But other than that,there is not much to like in this preposterous thriller.Probably one could say that this is a visually jarring, psychologically daring trip that explores terror in a fresh, if crazy, manner.But nevertheless,only the cast particularly Ben Kingsley saves this film from a complete disaster.

My first reaction as I began watching this film was that Ben Kingsley just didn't work for me in the role of a serial killer - even if his character is a serial killer with at least a hint of nobility about him - he does, after all, prey on serial killers; many of whom kill children. Still, while Kingsley is a great actor, to me he just doesn't fit as a serial killer of any kind - not even a noble one, which gave me an initial negative gut reaction as this began. Having said that, the movie could have overcome my reluctance to accept Kingsley in the role since his character wasn't the centrepiece of the movie. That was Aaron Eckhart's FBI Agent Tom Mackelway. Mackelway is a disgraced FBI agent who got in trouble with the Bureau for wrongdoing while working out of Dallas and ends up being "exiled" to to the FBI office in Albuquerque after a six-month suspension and psychiatric evaluation. Although not happy to be there, he does manage to put together the pieces of evidence that eventually lead him to Kingsley's O'Ryan.The background of the movie is that O'Ryan was some type of FBI special ops agent in the past who worked on a project involving "visioning" - allowing agents to get into the minds of others, especially apparently serial killers. Tormented by the visions he's seen, he's gone a bit off the deep end, and somehow Mackelway (who was never involved with the project) also has this visioning ability.The movie never really took off for me; it never really managed to draw me in. It's a bit of a mystery for a while as to why O'Ryan is obviously toying with Mackelway, but it wasn't all that riveting since I felt little connection with any of the characters and found the performances largely lacklustre, which matches my feeling about the movie as a whole. If you can stick with it, it leads up to a pretty good final confrontation between Mackelway and O'Ryan, but you do have to struggle to stay with it until those last few minutes, which are the most impressive few minutes of an otherwise largely unimpressive movie.