ZERO EFFECT
RATING: 6 / 10 --> Barely recommendable
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
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.
(c) 1998 Berge Garabedian
Movie Reviews by Berge Garabedian