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Suspect Zero - 8/27/04 - R - 99m
Ben Kingsley - Benjamin O'Ryan
Aaron Eckhart - Thomas Mackelway
Carrie-Anne Moss - Fran Kulok
Director: E. Elias Merhige
Written by: Zak Penn
Studio: Intermedia (paramount)
Official
Website
LYN
Nutshell: FBI Agent Thomas Mackelway (Aaron Eckhart) is banished to the Albuquerque, New Mexico field office via Dallas, due to his questionable interpretation of proper procedures. Not fired mind you, just transferred to New Mexico…whatever. Anyway, Agent Mackelway is back in business with a new murder on his hands to investigate, (I didn’t think the FBI did stuff like that, but I guess it saves time in the film to get them involved now, instead of waiting to find out that a serial killer is involved…oops, sorry if I gave anything away 
.
Side Note: Not that that was much of a spoiler or anything…from what I saw in the trailer, apparently there is a serial killer killing other serial killers. Or that’s at least what I gathered. Good premise for a movie, or so I thought.
Anyway, right to the meat & taters so to speak…
This film simply put…was bad. The plot was so predictable and the acting was atrocious, especially by the main character portrayed by ‘Aaron Eckhart’. Something comes to mind about not being able to act his way out of a wet paper bag. Not the right saying, but it gets the point across. And if I can get away with another cliché, it would have something to do with “one bad apple…”
Also, I read though the trivia for the film on ‘Imdb.com’ and it said and I quote “The original 1997 draft by ‘Zak Penn’ circulated around Hollywood for five years before finally being made. After several drafts were rejected, the original 1997 version, with several revisions by ‘Billy Ray’, was used for shooting”. And this was the best version they came up with? No wonder it sat around for so long. And to make matter worse, (also from ‘Imdb.com’) “$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.” Money I guess they’ll be lucky to see again…
But there was something good about the film. The drawings in the used in the film were of such quality that they added so much to the creepiness of the film’s intent, and the music can only be described as eerie. Two fine touches…unfortunately wasted here, nonetheless very well done. Bravo to the Art and Music departments.
Lyn
