zero effect gets its title from the main character , daryl zero ( bill pullman ) , although we do n't understand what it truly means until the very last line of dialogue in the film .
zero is a private investigator , perhaps the best private investigator who ever lived ( at least he 'd like to think so ) .
however , he 's a socially inept being , and eccentric in every possible way -- this fact certainly makes his talents as a private eye even more bewildering than they already are .
zero 's accomplice is steve arlo ( ben stiller ) , a " normal " guy who does the business side of the job -- he 's the one who actually speaks to clients and explains zero 's greatness as an investigator .
the opening scene has steve explaining the many virtues of zero 's talents to soon - to - be client gregory stark ( ryan o'neal ) .
it turns out that stark has lost a key to a safe deposit box , and is now being blackmailed for something that he apparently knows nothing about .
zero takes the case , and the plot thickens .
his path leads to a young , pretty paramedic named gloria sullivan ( kim dickens ) .
despite her luminous and seemingly - harmless presence , she turns out to be the one blackmailing stark .
through his investigations , zero learns why , but not without developing feelings for gloria -- feelings that , because of his reclusive behavior , are new and confusing to him .
i have no particular affinity towards the mystery genre of film .
i can idly enjoy movies about private investigators , and , every once in a while , a film like chinatown comes a long that blows me away ( actually , no private eye film has ever reached chinatown 's greatness ) .
zero effect , which is jake kasdan 's first effort as writer / director , is a film about a private investigator that succeeds in all attempts :
it 's
an original , funny , and completely involving motion picture .
with so many cliches available to this genre , i find it amazing that kasdan avoided all of them .
but he did n't just successfully avoid flaws
: he has created a great film here , one that had me interested and fascinated from the first shot to the final moment .
take , for starters ,
the great cast of characters .
pullman is terrific as zero , showing a comic flair that i really have n't seen from him since spaceballs .
zero is the kind of guy who seems at ease switching personalities so frequently as he does here ; the fact that he 's an almost exaggeratedly twisted , emotionally unstable man outside of his profession is not at all difficult to believe .
pullman 's performance is much more layered than it might seem at first glance , and the occasional voice - over as he 's going through the motions of his job are insightful and often hilarious
.
ben stiller is also a very funny individual ; he 's the kind of comedian who makes normal lines sound funny .
"
i 'll shoot you , " he says to stark at one point .
"
i have a gun , and everything .
" his character is also well - drawn , with an interesting subplot involving his girlfriend ( angela featherstone ) who is not happy with the extensive amounts of time he must spend away from her due to the unpredictability of his job .
o'neal also gives his character a bit of depth ; and kim dickens , last seen ( and underused ) in mercury rising , gets a chance to show us her talent here , giving gloria the realism this kind of character really needs .
i find zero effect to be an immensely funny and witty film .
kasdan 's humor is of the best kind --
soft spoken , and mostly dialogue - driven ( though
there are some great visual jokes ) .
it 's the kind of humor that 's funny even after you 've seen it five or six times .
there 's one scene in which zero talks about how detached he is , an how that makes him such a great detective .
what we see during this narration are various shots of him sitting on a bed , or standing motionlessly , with his hair destroyed and an utterly blank look painted on his unshaven face , his eyes pointing to something off camera , but obviously to nothing in particular .
i ca n't convey to you how funny this is , but what makes it great film making is that it has a point -- scenes like this are frequent , and they provide solid characterization of zero .
as a side note , i do n't consider myself an average viewer when it comes to comedy ( not to sound elitist ) -- i find things funny
that many do not , and vice versa .
there was a clump of people near me in the theater laughing uproariously through this film , and the rest of the theater was relatively silent through most of it .
i have a feeling the humor here wo n't appeal to everyone , but there 's certainly enough story and character development to keep anyone 's interest .
jake kasdan , son of writer / director lawrence kasdan , is only 22 years old .
i found this out after seeing the film , and i ca n't remember ever being so impressed with a film maker .
his direction is stylish without being pretentious , and his writing is mature , full , and developed .
zero effect is the kind of film that i 'll buy for my collection
-- smart , original films like this are rare as it is , but this one actually has a heart and a soul
.
at the end of the film , i was involved in the characters , and
i was satisfied with the outcome .
and , with kasdan 's undeniable talent at such a young age , all i can do is hope to see a lot more from him in the future .
Output: P