Movies in Brief

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

SUSPECT ZERO
R , 99 mins.


Jumbled and overcomplicated yet idealess and empty, “Suspect Zero” takes its title from a theoretical profile of serial killers one of its characters invents: “A Random Killing Machine That Never Leaves A Clue.” But anyone who could come up with such a profile has never seen a serial killer movie before.


Benjamin O’Ryan (Ben Kingsley) is a seriously unhinged former FBI profiler turned murderer who has an uncanny ability to imagine a crime scene before he commits the crime. Taking an interest in Thomas Mackelway (Aaron Eckhart), a disgraced FBI agent who’s been demoted from Dallas to Albuquerque after he violently bungled an arrest of a serial killer, he begins sending him cryptic faxes and leaving mutilated bodies at state lines for him to find.


Mackelway, who has demons of his own, finds O’Ryan intriguing as well. And as he investigates O’Ryan, he finds himself connecting with the killer. Is he slowly descending into madness, or do the two hold an unseen bond? If you’ve seen the theatrical trailer, you know what O’Ryan’s motives are; as it is meant to be a twist, however, it shall not be spoiled here.


Mackelway is paired in his endeavor with his former colleague and lover Fran Kulok (Carrie-Ann Moss). Ms. Moss’s role, small and useless here, brings up an interesting question: Other than having to include a female co-star, why include the character at all? Her character exists only to provide sexual tension, which isn’t delivered. Likewise, Mr. Kingsley’s part is a small one – he probably has no more than 20 minutes on screen – and he walks a fine line between provocative and unintentionally funny, crossing it more than once.


Director E. Elias Merhige (“Shadow of the Vampire”) spends much time trying to create an atmospheric and creepy mood. He bathes the film in faux-claustrophobic close-ups and pretty trick shots. But pretty pictures coupled with drop-dead slow pacing do not a scary movie make. And he never does a proper job of making sure the screenplay makes any sense.


What are we to think, for instance, about Mackelway’s own supervisor, who doesn’t know to put on gloves while handling evidence? Mackelway himself is less an investigator than someone who just so happens to be available for a series of well-timed coincidences. The film is called “Suspect Zero,” but perhaps a more accurate title would have been “Huh?”


BROTHERS IN ARMS
unrated , 68 mins.


It’s good to have friends in Hollywood. Paul Alexander’s “Brothers in Arms,” a documentary of John Kerry and the men who served with him in Vietnam on Patrol Craft 94, attempts to squelch any doubt of John Kerry’s valor in Vietnam. The film has compelling moments, but uninventive directing and editing drain any intensity from the story. The film is far too long at just over one hour.


Interviews with Mr. Kerry and his four surviving crewmates are interspersed with still photos and footage of the Mekong Delta. The film tries to advance the campaign idea of these men as a “band of brothers,” but it is the differences between Kerry and his men that become evident as the years go by. As Mr. Kerry’s men detail their bouts with alcoholism, post-traumatic stress disorder, and contemplate suicide, his personal feelings are conspicuously absent. Instead, there are multiple shots of Mr. Kerry at various anti-war events and reiterating his feelings of responsibility to the American people.


“Brothers in Arms” is being released at the perfect time to combat any arguments posed by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, but there is not much here that wasn’t covered at the Democratic National Convention. The men champion Mr. Kerry’s valor on the field of battle, but no direct response to any of the current questions being raised about it is made.


The film ends with the men, star struck in a way, following Mr. Kerry on the campaign trail, eating ice cream and trapped in one of the most awkward and lengthy close-ups of four men ever caught on film. These men served honorably in Vietnam, and a film about them could have been insightful and affecting. But that might have decreased its effectiveness as a campaign tool.


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