Suspect Zero

Here we go again with another brooding-cop-vs.-serial-killer cat-and-mouse thriller. So what makes Suspect Zero any different from Taking Lives, Twisted, Murder By Numbers, Along Came a Spider, The Watcher, The Bone Collector, Kiss the Girls, Copycat, Se7en, etc., etc.? Well, just enough to keep it interesting, but not necessarily memorable. Aaron Eckhart stars as an FBI agent recently banished to the backwaters of Albuquerque for botching a case, with Ben Kingsley as the taunting killer who has followed him there. But the reason he does so is this film's somewhat novel twist: Kingsley claims to be a former FBI agent himself, part of a secret project that has honed his clairvoyant gift into a weapon of sorts, which he uses to pick his victims for one very specific reason that takes Suspect Zero in an unexpected direction. Director E. Elias Merhige (Shadow of the Vampire) makes stylistic use of this psychic element to lend the movie its unnerving and extra-cryptic edge, drawing out the suspense slowly, like the eerie back-and-forth bowing of a long sharp chord on a cello. But too much of the film tends to be farfetched, overly familiar, or just plain flat, making this an optional purchase. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen, DVD extras include audio commentary by director E. Elias Merhige, the four-part featurette “What We See When We Close Our Eyes” about remote viewing (31 min.), a remote viewing demonstration (11 min.), a brief alternate ending with optional commentary by Merhige, Easter eggs, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a so-so thriller.] (R. Blackwelder)