Suspect Zero
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: August 27, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
37
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
14
Negative:
11
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
40
VarietyBrian Lowry
A plodding and familiar "cop sees what the killer sees" riff that plays like a poorly inflated "The X-Files" episode. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Suspect Zero has enough going for it to eventually develop a cult following. But compared to "Silence of the Lambs" and "Seven," it's still the minor leagues. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Given nothing to do, Carrie-Anne Moss looks on from the sidelines as the film halfheartedly toys with the tired old notion that only a thin line separates the dogged investigator and the compulsive killer. She looks bored, and she should. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
Merhige is too talented to be dismissed as a wannabe, but here his gifts for clever angles and oogy feelings are tethered to blasé genre redundancies and clunky storytelling. Looks great, less thrilling. I blame the screenwriters. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The truth is, the freakiness kinda turns the director on, and he nearly strangles Suspect Zero with love. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
The 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. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Kingsley gets the film's one big emotional scene and makes it count. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldPeter Debruge
Ultimately the story of someone who preys on other serial killers, but can't seem to come up with an original way in which to do it. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Fails to provide one essential ingredient: suspense. Read full review
30
TV Guide MagazineEthan Alter
It's not easy to make a thriller that's both incredibly convoluted and intensely boring, but director E. Elias Merhige scores on both counts with this lame excuse for a spooky crime story. Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The movie's premise is as dopey as they come: A serial killer with a conscience is killing other serial killers. Read full review
20
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Finally, a serial-killer movie so preposterous, so garnished with accidental laugh lines and absent essential narrative logic it may actually put a permanent kibosh on this tediously overworked crime subgenre. Here's hoping, at any rate. Read full review
70
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
With 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. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJim Fusilli
Directed by E. Elias Merhige, the film is never less than entertaining, but Sir Ben's portrayal of a sympathetic psychopath gives it a special zing.
20
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Instead of building suspense and tension, Suspect Zero devotes its efforts to creating a weird and creepy milieu that will leave fans of police procedurals wanting and avant-garde enthusiasts scratching their heads. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
A novel twist in the second half succeeds in distinguishing this from the pack but also wrenches it away from the meager characters. Read full review
25
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Preposterous, physically hideous paranormal thriller. Read full review
38
New York PostLou Lumenick
The clichéd and predictable Suspect Zero is the latest evidence that Hollywood has run the serial-killer thriller into the ground through overuse - the same way it earlier exhausted, say, buddy action-comedies. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Merhige 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. Read full review
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
When, in its eventful final act, Merhige finally reveals what this thing is REALLY all about, it comes not with any blissful storytelling satisfaction but a grinding sense that this strange movie is a structural mess. Read full review
30
Film ThreatJeremy Knox
The movie contains not one surprise, not one shock, not one scare, not one bit of interest for any moviegoer over the age of ten (mentally or physically). Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
There's a point at which its 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. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The trouble is that the plot is so elliptical to be almost unfollowable (though it helps to have seen the trailer). Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
It's merely adequate, with one riveting element but limited chills. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Eckhart, who gets more rugged by the picture, certainly works hard to bring the audience along. But he's a nervous wreck for nothing. This movie isn't talking to us, it's talking to other serial killer movies. Read full review
25
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Among the lamest serial-killer movies ever made. Read full review
30
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Suspect Zero is loaded with cheap thrills for the expensively educated. Read full review
20
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
A grisly, depraved and wholly uninvolving exercise in empty mannerism. Read full review
30
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
None of the principals is remotely likable--although Kingsley does appear to enjoy swanning around the great Southwest like a low-rent Anthony Hopkins. Read full review
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