SUSPECT ZERO is a serial killer film that attempts to emulate the success of SEVEN and its ilk but instead makes a mess of it thanks to some really dodgy direction, the worst I've seen in a mainstream Hollywood film in a while. Everything about the style makes it look incredibly dated and like it belongs in the early 1990s instead of the mid-2000s.

It doesn't help that the film is saddled with a nonsensical plot and lots of badly edited scenes that barely begin to make sense, at least up until half an hour before the end. Advertising would have you believe this to be a straightforward serial killer outing about a killer who kills other killers (a plot popularised on TV these days in DEXTER) but instead it turns out to be some semi-supernatural thriller about America's involvement in 'Psy Ops', or psychic operations, so we get loads of guff about remote viewing and silly surveillance-style shots.

Mired right in the middle of this mess is Aaron Eckhart, whose acting is of the calibre that you wouldn't believe he made it as a successful actor after this. Supporting him is Carrie-Anne Moss, delivering another icy cold turn as a supposedly sympathetic FBI agent, and Ben Kingsley, whose acting varies as the film progresses. The good news is that half an hour before the end it all begins to make sense and comes together quite nicely with a chase climax, but sadly that happens way too late in the game to make this a decent movie.

Coming from Dallas after a suspension and a breakdown, FBI agent Thomas Mackelway (Aaron Eckhart) arrives in Dallas when a salesman is killed in a hideous crime. Mackelway is in charge of the investigation and the chief of the agency calls for backup, arriving agent Fran Kulok (Carrie-Anne Moss),who had a past with Mackelway. The leads guide them to Benjamin O'Ryan (Ben Kinsley),a man that claims to be a former FBI agent, and considered a random killing machine. Mackelway becomes obsessed trying to find the truth.

I saw the trailer of "Suspect Zero" and I really expected a great thriller. The cinematography and atmosphere are really excellent, the cast with Ben Kinsley, Carrie-Anne Moss and Aaron Eckhart is very above average, but unfortunately the screenplay does not work well. The idea is original, the story discloses in a good pace, but something is missing to accomplish my excessive expectations. Nevertheless, watching "Suspect Zero" is worthwhile and my vote is six.

Titçe (Brazil): "Suspeito Zero" ("Suspect Zero")

Directed by E Elias Merhige who made the intriguing Shadow of the Vampire comes another film with an intriguing premise.

Aaron Eckhart plays a FBI agent Tom Mackelway who seems to have been downgraded after being suspended. He has moved to the Albuquerque office and immediately starts investigating a killing.

He also starts receiving faxes about unsolved crimes. Mackleway seems to have some sort of empathy and vision regarding what seems to be random acts of murder but some of the clues point towards an ex FBI agent O'Ryan (Ben Kingsley) who might be a suspect or can see in the mind of a super serial killer and wants to assist Mackleway in catching him.

The film starts promisingly enough but it quickly became muddled and confusing. At times I had to rewind parts of the film and put the volume up to understand it. The muddle lets the film down, Eckhart and Kingsley are fine, Carrie-Anne Moss is wasted.