ZERO EFFECT RATING: 6 / 10 --> Barely recommendable
Jake Kasdan, son of legendary screenwriter/director Lawrence Kasdan, writes and directs his first picture entitled ZERO EFFECT at the tender age of 23.
PLOT: The world's most "private" detective Daryl Zero is hired by a rich man named Stark, to find his lost keys to a security box which contains information that could be used against him, and to figure out the identity of the person who is also blackmailing him. Zero's faithful assistant, Arlo, acts as the middleman between the two men, since dick Zero does not believe in meeting his clients. Let the unraveling begin.
CRITIQUE: Quirky, original, but ultimately overlong and not so interesting tale of the self-proclaimed "world's greatest private investigator." Bill Pullman has never really excited me in any of his works (even my favourite film of 1997, LOST HIGHWAY (8.5/10)), and continues to do his humdrum work in this "trying to be hip" crime film, that never really grabs a hold of anyone or anything. The film's premise is certainly very cute, with the detective not wanting to meet any of his clients, and being some sort of an acutely sensitive psycho-analyst who could tell almost everything about a person after meeting them for only thirty seconds.
But ultimately, the film's plot and execution never really generate enough drama, interest or zing to keep the film enjoyable at any level. It seemed like a quirky film at times, a crime drama at others, and ultimately degenerated into some half-assed romantic crime tale, which didn't seem to know which end was up anymore. There were some original points in the script, and even some clever moments about the detective, his methods and motivations, but not enough to constitute anything close to a successful movie.
Even Ben Stiller seemed wasted in his underplayed role of the assistant who was torn between his love and his job. On top of everything, the film packed it in a little under the two-hour mark, without justifying at least thirty minutes of that lengthy total. In the end, I believe that your enjoyment of this film will be strongly correlated to your appreciation of the work of Bill Pullman, your desire to see experimental films that may quirk your interest, and the unimportance of the money that you are willing to invest in this video pick. If all three traffic lights seem green to you, then please go ahead and watch this movie and try to enjoy your time on board. If your interest is not peaked by my guidelines, then I suggest you go out and rent the ultimate hip, quirky, crime film: RESERVOIR DOGS (9/10), by Quentin Tarantino, and have a blast!
Little Known Facts: Bill Pullman made his big screen debut in the Danny DeVito / Bette Midler comedy RUTHLESS PEOPLE (7.5/10) in 1986 and followed that with two lead roles in SPACEBALLS (8/10) and THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW. Pullman has a Master of Arts in theater studies, and while teaching at Montana State University, one of his students was director John Dahl, who subsequently gave him a role in his 1994 film THE LAST SEDUCTION (7.5/10). Ryan O'Neal is the father of actress Tatum O'Neal, who was once married to tennis great John McEnroe.
Review Date: August 2, 1998
Director: Jake Kasdan
Writer: Jake Kasdan
Producers: Lisa Henson, Janet Yang, Jake Kasdan
Actors: Bill Pullman as Daryl Zero
Ben Stiller as Steve Arlo
Ryan O'Neal as Gregory Stark
Genre: Crime
Year of Release: 1998
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(c) 1998 Berge Garabedian
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