jake kasdan , son of one of the best screenwriters around , breaks into filmmaking by writing and directing this hard - to - categorize detective story : part mystery , part comedy , part character study and part romance .
for the most part , kasdan manages to combine the genres successfully and create a captivating film .
daryl zero ( bill pullman ) is a modern day sherlock holmes .
the parallel is present down to his love of music ( though zero plays the guitar rather than the violin ) , and his addiction to drugs ( amphetamines , rather than morphine ) .
he even titles his cases with such sherlockian epigrams as the case of the mismatched shoelaces , the case about the man who lied about his age , or the case of the hired gun who made way way too many mistakes .
however zero 's observance of the fine art of detachment , though it makes him a brilliant private investigator , makes him somewhat of a self - imposed outcast in society .
he could do nothing without the legwork of his trusty assistant dr .
watson
, i mean steve arlo
( ben stiller ) .
arlo is not happy with his job .
he is thrilled to be around zero 's brilliance , but his bizarre behavior , and strange requests , are frustrating to the former lawyer .
and they 're even more so to his girlfriend , jess ( angela featherstone ) , who is fed up that her boyfriend 's boss means more to arlo than her .
this is the situation when a new case comes knocking .
gregory stark ( ryan o'neill ) hires zero to find his lost keys .
it seems that he kept a safety deposit box key on the ring , and the box apparently contains some incriminating evidence .
now , stark is being blackmailed , and needs to reclaim his key before the nightmare can end .
to solve this case , zero reluctantly crawls out of his shell .
however , this is when he is vulnerable . . .
and this time he falls for charms of a wily paramedic , gloria sullivan ( kim dickens ) , who may be involved in the blackmail scheme .
for the first time , zero has to question his own objectivity , as he finds his client less and less sympathetic .
zero effect is weakest in its obviously " wacky " scenes depicting daryl zero 's odd behavior .
such scenes might be appropriate in an out - and - out satire , making zero an ace ventura - ish character . however ,
there 's a much meatier movie in here . . .
it just takes a while to get out .
that 's not to say that there 's not a place for humor in this film .
in fact , some of the best scenes are ben stiller 's wonderfully underplayed comic moments of absolute disgust and frustration with his employer .
however , the over - the - top scenes never quite gel with the rest of the film , and they are n't funny enough to stand on their own .
once the investigation is underway , however ,
zero 's brilliance really begins to shine .
his lightning quick inferences are as fascinating as many of sherlock 's own .
as the mystery begins to unfold , zero 's deductions lead the plot in interesting directions , but never lose the viewer .
zero effect works well during its romantic scenes as well .
zero 's relationship with gloria is low - key , but it hits all the right notes .
however , we are always kept distant from gloria 's character .
she 's given plenty of development , but we never understand what she is thinking .
perhaps that may be intentional : to place the audience in zero 's zone of detachment .
but , on the whole , it is frustrating .
bill pullman , when he 's not spacing out , creates a vibrant character in daryl zero .
there 's one moment when zero briefly connects to the world which he has managed to detach from for many years ,
and it is shockingly moving . . . expressing a seriousness that heretofore was unassociated with the character , but one which fits in well .
and , although it is sometimes hard to take a detective called " zero " seriously , it is at this moment that the viewer understands the meaning behind the name .
although zero effect is a bit awkward in places , it is a strong debut for kasdan , and shows great promise .
Output: P