Considering some of the talent behind Suspect Zero, I have to say I am a little surprised at how embarrassingly pedestrian this film turned out to be. While I truly believe the filmmakers set out to make a dark, suuspenseful thriller - one to join the ranks of other such creep-fests like Seven and Silence of the Lambs - all they really accomplish is to create a blueprint of Hollywood clichés and never quite delivering on the genuine chills or the stories high-concept.

The story revolves around FBI Agent Thomas Mackelway (played by Aaron Eckhart of The Core and Paycheck) who, as a result of past mistakes with his conduct at the Bureau, gets bumped out of the big-league Dallas branch and sent to Albuquerque, New Mexico as punishment. On his first day at his new job, he gets assigned to investigate a body that was found on the state line - a traveling salesman who turns out to be only the first in a series of "random" killings that all manage to mysteriously entangle our lead character in a web of intrigue much grander than he could ever anticipate - the hunt for the ultimate serial killer. One with no pattern, no motive and so undetectable that only a remote viewing Ben Kingsley can possibly find him.

Unfortunately for the audience, getting past the uninspired direction, the hokey dialogue, the cheesy romantic subplot with the ex-partner/girlfriend, and Ben Kingsley's inability to save this sinking ship takes up so much of our attention that we no longer care what happens to the characters or the plot.

Screenwriter Zak Penn (X2: X-Men United) and director E. Elias Merhige (Shadow of the Vampire) had hoped to examine the nature of evil through Suspect Zero, but devote far too much of the film's 94 minute running time to inserting predictable character moments and plot points to really get to the heart of the matter.

For anyone truly interested in checking out a story that takes a closer look at the nature of evil without falling flat on its face, skip the cinema, hit your local video store and pick up the aforementioned Seven, the original Exorcist or The Ninth Configuration (both from the king of theological thrillers, William Peter Blatty) or better yet, check out my personal favourite, Chris Carter's (The X-Files) Millennium - The Complete First Season which hit DVD this past July.