SUSPECT ZERO (2004)

SHORT REVIEW: Ben Kingsley should be able to sue the film’s producers and director for defamation of character. Phew! This is a stink bomb! The actors looked embarrassed the whole time – actually, they looked bored. The embarrassment part was me projecting on them. This is simply an awful, childish film. Not is all lost. This was probably a good idea for a film at one point. The idea of a “remote-viewer” losing control and going nuts is interesting. By the way, remote viewing is a goofball concept wherein a person is hypnotized and is able to see things from afar (meaning across the country and in different periods of time.) This is not a bad idea for a hack movie. The filmmakers take this frothy mint julep of an idea and plop in a big fat turd. This metaphorical turd is the combo of director E. Elias Merhige (Begotten, Anti-Christ Superstar) and screenwriter Zak Penn (Elektra, Last Action Hero). These two create a concoction of amazing blandness. Why amazing? This is a boring movie, yet it is littered with tons of unnecessary violence and gore. They didn’t have a story worthy of telling and had to lean on the gore as a crutch. At least I hope this is the case. I hope they didn’t think showing a realistic rape scene was somehow useful. I often complain that once actors reach a certain level of fame and riches, they stop acting. Look at the careers of Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, John Travolta and Nicholas Cage – none of these guys has actually acted in over a decade. This can happen to people behind the scenes as well. Zak Penn is a talented screenwriter. He’s done good work on the X-Men films as an example. After seeing this lame heap of trash he has written, I tend to think he has decided to sit back and relax as well. Penn, if you’re not going to do better, get out of the way and let some new blood in! Categories: film, movie review, Suspect Zero, remote viewing, Ben Kingsley, Arron Eckhart