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Movie Review: Zlich for Zero


Everyone has a favorite serial killer movie. Director E. Elias Merhige, it seems, has a lot of favorite movies from this formulaic genre, and he borrows heavily from all of them in this new film.

Before I am accosted for calling the genre formulaic, I will admit that there are exceptions a la Silence of the Lambs, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Se7en and perhaps the original film in the genre, Fritz Lang's M. But in general, the genre is getting tired and for every good one, there is a CopyCat, a Kiss the Girls or a Suspect Zero. Yes, I'm afraid that Ben Kingsley's new vehicle is one of these canned hams. And yes, I called it a Ben Kingsley "Vehicle."

A Vehicle is a film that has no merit in itself; it is simply made so that an actor can play a part that fits his typecasting. Action films are Vin Diesel vehicles, zany comedies about man-children are Adam Sandler vehicles, and dramas about accented, conflicted scene-chewers are officially Ben Kingsley vehicles.

The story and premise of the film are implausible and the characters are poorly written and superficial. However, Ben Kingsley gets a minimum of three to four pivotal scenes where he is given free reign to act all over the place.

FBI agent Thomas Mackelway (Aaron Eckhart) is hard on the trail of a serial killer that leaves few clues and seems to kill at random. Mackelway is overwhelmed by the mounting lack of clues and body count, so Agent Fran Kuloc (Carrie-Ann Moss) is brought in to assist with the investigation. The drab duo comes across a new victim, which turns out to be an acquitted serial killer from Mackelway's past. This sends them on a search that brings them to Benjamin O'Ryan (Kingsley), an ex-profiler who was trained by the bureau in "remote viewing," a marriage of medium and psychic mumbo-jumbo with scientific research.

According to Eckhart, it is a teachable method that is being practiced by U.S. intelligence today. "They don't tell us, but they're probably using it to track down killers and missing persons," said Eckhart during a recent interview. "They're probably using it to track down Bin Laden."

Is Kingsley the killer or is he an ally? Is there really a random serial killer that kills without motive or has no particular fetish? Muddled in with all this is a ridiculous romantic back story between Eckhart and Moss, simply there so the two can talk about something other than how much the plot stinks.

Writer Zak Penn is hardly fit to pen what is being sold as a smart and twisted thriller, having previously written Inspector Gadget and Last Action Hero. Here he undermines his audience's savvy investigation skills in the post-CSI, Law & Order world. The investigation tactics of these agents are more Inspector Clouseau than Clarice Starling.

Now for what is redeeming about the film; Eckhart is a talented actor who needs a casting agent that understands his range. When occupying colleague Neil LaBute's morally liquid worlds like In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors, he makes being immoral look fun. In Suspect Zero he is forced to bring emotional gravity to a role that has none. The same is true of Merhige. His repertoire includes the uncanny images from Marilyn Manson's "Cryptorchid" music video and the critically lauded Shadow of the Vampire. He has an eye for the macabre, which was likely honed through being a horror movie buff. He works great with material of a gothic, German Expressionistic nature, but askew angles and decaying landscapes work better in Shadow of the Vampire.

In Suspect Zero, he marries the visual style of German Expressionism with the thematic elements of Film Noir. Unfortunately, the resulting film is as disjointed as the killer's random victims. Merhige would be far more interesting if he teamed up with a writer like Clive Barker. If you simply must have one good reason to go see it, I'll give you one guarantee: Ben Kingsley screams, intimidates, acts both at once menacing and vulnerable, and speaks in an obscure, well-practiced accent ... do I hear Oscar, anyone?

Yeah, when slaughtered pigs fly.

Reach the reporter at saman.mehrazar@asu.edu.


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