Suspect Zero

Suspect Zero

Promotional poster
Directed by E. Elias Merhige
Produced by Lester Berman
Gaye Hirsch
E. Elias Merhige
Darren Miller
Paula Wagner
Tom Cruise (uncredited)
Executive:
Moritz Borman
Guy East
Gary Lucchesi
Tom Rosenberg
Jonathan Sanger
Nigel Sinclair
Written by Zak Penn
Billy Ray
Starring Aaron Eckhart
Ben Kingsley
Carrie-Anne Moss
Kevin Chamberlin
Harry J. Lennix
Music by Clint Mansell
Cinematography Michael Chapman
Edited by John Gilroy
Robert K. Lambert
Production
company
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
 August 27, 2004
Running time
 99 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $27 million
Box office $11,416,075

Suspect Zero is a 2004 American psychological thriller film starring Aaron Eckhart, Ben Kingsley, and Carrie-Anne Moss. The film, which was produced by Tom Cruise's co-owned company Cruise/Wagner Productions, was directed by E. Elias Merhige. It was a box office bomb failing to earn half of its estimated $27 million production costs at the box office.

The film is about the hunt for Suspect Zero, a potential serial killer who is able to kill indefinitely because he is able to remain undetectable by law enforcement agencies.

Plot

A man is seated in a diner who is revealed as Harold, a traveling salesman. He is joined by a gentleman who makes him uncomfortable. After leaving the diner, Harold is found dead, which leads to FBI Agents Thomas Mackelway (Aaron Eckhart) and Fran Kulok (Carrie-Anne Moss) being brought in on the case. There appears to be history between Mackelway and Kulok and a cloud of competency is addressed by flashbacks of Mackelway's recent suspension and issues he's undergone. As the investigation proceeds, the agents begin to become aware of the possible existence of "Suspect Zero", a mythical "super serial killer" responsible for hundreds of deaths across all 50 states who leaves no evidence behind to link his crimes together.

The killer sends information to Mackelway which leads him to Benjamin O'Ryan (Ben Kingsley). The agents must decide if O'Ryan is the key that will allow them to catch Suspect Zero or if he himself is Suspect Zero. Evidence uncovered reveals that O'Ryan was part of a secret government experiment attempting to cultivate telepathic abilities in individuals for military purposes. The experiments gave O'Ryan the ability to see the actions of serial killers. These disturbing visions constantly torment O'Ryan and drive him to find the killers and kill them. O'Ryan seeks out Mackelway because Mackelway shares his abilities to some degree and was involved in a controversial case that made headlines.

The actual Suspect Zero is another man who travels around the United States with a refrigerated truck. He targets children, whom he abducts and transports to his ranch to be killed. Mackelway pieced together evidence linking these crimes by recognizing that victims had signs of freezer burns while being transported from their place of kidnap to their resting place. Eventually, Mackelway and O'Ryan find Suspect Zero at his ranch. After a struggle outside, Suspect Zero is killed when Mackelway crushes his skull with a rock. O'Ryan then tries to convince Mackelway to end his suffering by killing him. When Mackelway refuses, O'Ryan pretends to attack him, prompting Kulok to shoot him to defend her partner.

Cast

Production

Screenplay

The film is based on a first draft by Zak Penn. After it was sold to Universal Studios for $750,000, C/W Productions (founded by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner) became its producers. However the script was put onto the back burner after a deal to make the movie in 1997 with Sylvester Stallone fell through.

After several more years, C/W Productions hired Bill Ray to rewrite Penn's original script. Changes included moving the action from Texas, making the lead character a burned-out, disgraced FBI agent rather than a rookie, and turning a maverick criminal profiler into a psychic with the power of remote viewing.

Filming

The film began shooting in New Mexico in 2002. The State was chosen because it offered tax-free incentives and financial funding to film companies using New Mexico. The program was established to entice film makers to the State.

Reception

The original release of the film was slated for 2003. However after it was put back to spring 2004, it was not released until the last weekend in August 2004.

The film has received generally bad reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a rating of 18%. Roger Ebert thought the film confusing, stating "enigmatic flashes of incomprehensible action grow annoying, and a point at which we realize that there's no use paying close attention, because we won't be able to figure out the film's secrets until they're explained to us."[1]

It made less than half its total budget in ticket sales.

Notes

Citations

  1. ↑ "Suspect Zero". http://www.rogerebert.com. August 26, 2004.

External links

References