
When Dallas FBI Agent Thomas Mackelway violates serial killer Raymond Starkey's civil rights during an unorthodox arrest, Starkey goes free and Mackelway is demoted to a remote branch of the agency in Albuquerque. His first day on the job, Mackelway investigates the murder of traveling salesman Harold Speck, which turns out to be the first of three seemingly random killings. Perhaps they are not random at all. The last to die is Mackelway's nemesis, Raymond Starkey. The assig... (Full plot summary below)
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When Dallas FBI Agent Thomas Mackelway violates serial killer Raymond Starkey's civil rights during an unorthodox arrest, Starkey goes free and Mackelway is demoted to a remote branch of the agency in Albuquerque. His first day on the job, Mackelway investigates the murder of traveling salesman Harold Speck, which turns out to be the first of three seemingly random killings. Perhaps they are not random at all. The last to die is Mackelway's nemesis, Raymond Starkey. The assignment consumes him, his past mistakes haunt him, and his head throbs constantly as he tries to find the link between the victims that will lead him to their killer while the case becomes increasingly gruesome and patently personal. This does not go unnoticed by his unflappable partner Fran Kulok, who knows of Mackelway's past and the demons that afflict him. Like Mackelway, she becomes drawn into the labyrinth of chilling clues, all of which point to the enigmatic Benjamin O'Ryan. O'Ryan clearly has a connection to the murders, a connection he flaunts. Quite possibly, he may also harbor a sinister link to Mackelway.
Leave your thoughts about Suspect Zero.
| Salon.comStephanie ZacharekSuspect Zero is loaded with cheap thrills for the expensively educated. |
| Village VoiceJ. HobermanNone of the principals is remotely likable--although Kingsley does appear to enjoy swanning around the great Southwest like a low-rent Anthony Hopkins. |
| Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasMerhige understands how exciting going to the edge of credibility can be without falling off, and he has the bravura talent and imagination needed to pull off the sheer, hurtling audacity of Suspect Zero. |
| Chicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonThe script isn't really good enough to worry about whether it's being over-directed; in fact, E. Elias Merhige's over-direction is one of the best things about this movie--along with Ben Kingsley's grimly unstoppable killer-of-killers, Benjamin O'Ryan. |
| Globe and MailLiam LaceyThe trouble is that the plot is so elliptical to be almost unfollowable (though it helps to have seen the trailer). |
| Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)Thomas PeyserMerhige treats the laughable plot as if it were high existential drama. He smothers what might have been a solid B picture in relentless art-house pretension. |
| Film Journal InternationalLewis BealeMerhige, whose last film was the clever and creepy Shadow of the Vampire, seems to have succumbed to Big Picture Disease here. |
| Washington PostMichael O'SullivanWith its spooky atmosphere to spare and a riveting central performance by Kingsley, an actor who manages to elicit both terror and sympathy, I was able to forget all those things, basking in the pleasure of my own goose bumps. So, for an hour and a half, will you. |
| Denton Record-ChronicleBoo AllenWhat a mess. What in the world is this stupid miasma supposed to be? |
| Las Vegas Review-JournalCarol ClingAs usual in these movies, the bad guy has all the fun -- for which we should all be grateful. Because without him, Suspect Zero would add up to less than zero indeed. |