In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.

[EX Q]: 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 .
[EX A]: P

[EX Q]: " spawn " may be somewhat of an older film .
in fact it will probably be on video before anyone who has n't seen it will finally get to see it ( that is , if they see it ) .
but i managed to catch it before it made it 's way out of theaters and into the world of rentals
and , god forbid , video cassette purchasing .
it was n't the worst film of year by any means .
it is n't even on the top 5 of the worst films of the year .
but it did manage to top the bottom five of the bottom ten , which , in simpler terms , means it comes in at number 6 on my " worst of 1997 " list .
the only reason it does n't come in lower is thanks to the special effects , which might actually have been some of the best of the year .
performances , however , were either wooden or , for the most part , unforgivingly campy .
in fact , this film shows no signs of attempting to avoid campiness !
even the editing seemed to boast a campy quality .
i do n't know how to explain that one ; it was n't exactly choppy , but something about it seemed . . .
well , annoyingly unprofessional .
john leguizamo almost makes it as clown , but not quite .
he is the only character who provides the audience with any laughs that can honestly be called intentional .
but the main problem i found with " spawn " , as with most films that wind up on my " worst of " lists , is that it was just plain boring
.
i would n't even say there was a climax to the film .
sure , it had the big battle scene at the end , but the only excitement felt
was that the movie might be nearing a conclusion .
never too soon , the movie did conclude in a very simple , disappointing way .
even though it 's one of the shorter movies i 've seen this year , it 's one that i would definitely not want to subject myself to sitting thru again .
like i said , the special effects are the only reason that this film should have any sense of pride , no matter how small .
i was impressed with the opening sequence , so long as i did n't allow the melodramatic voice - over and lobotomizing editing
to get to me .
and batman has nothing on the spectacular visuals spawn 's outfit created .
but even the effects got tiresome during the final scenes , which looked quite a bit like a modern video game .
who knows if " spawn : the video game " was n't part of the plan from the beginning ?
keeping in mind that the film was based on a comic book makes it somewhat more approachable , and in a very small amount , makes up for the cheeziness of it all .
but none of this movie 's saving graces can it make it something
i 'd recommend seeing , no matter what the price of admission .
this movie is definitely not for young children , which should n't really be a problem seeing as how only teenagers , if anyone , would likely find it appealing .
if you really want to catch a movie , there are many better ones out there ,
no matter what your tastes might be !
trust me !
" spawn
" has very little to offer even the most avid moviegoers !
[EX A]: N

[EX Q]: " deep rising " gives you that sinking feeling both literally and figuratively : not only does the movie take place on a cruise ship slowly being immersed into the middle of the ocean by a squid - like menace , but the unfolding story is artificial , silly and almost completely derivative of countless other ( and , for the most part , better ) films .
while dumb monster movies can at least be decent guilty pleasures -- take , for example , the schlocky mountain highs of last spring 's " anaconda " -- " deep rising " has no tongue to put in its cheek .
folks , we 're only a month into the new year , and already here 's a candidate for one of its stinkiest releases .
most of the action takes place on the argonautica , a luxury liner in the middle of its maiden voyage ( uh - oh -- if these people had seen " titanic , " then maybe they 'd have known to stay home ) when it 's attacked by a giant , tentacled sea creature .
the only survivors are slinky jewel thief trilian ( famke janssen ) , argonautica owner canton ( anthony heald ) and a few other crew members .
a mercenary team , lead by resourceful captain john finnegan ( treat williams ) , board the argonautica looking for assistance after their own boat breaks down nearby .
but what their search of the ship uncovers is something blood - soaked , hungry and not very helpful .
the main problem with " deep rising " is its overt familiarity ; the movie makes absolutely no attempt to differentiate itself from most sci - fi / horror films in recent memory .
the concept is " leviathan " meets " titanic , " with a dash of " speed 2 " thrown in for good ( or is that bad ? ) measure .
this monster is equal parts " 20 , 000 leagues under the sea " and " the relic , " knows how to open doors like the raptors from " jurassic park " and even gets to expel a half - digested victim ( a neat effect , admittedly )
a la the giant snake in " anaconda .
"
some of the attack sequences are straight out of " jaws " and " alien .
"
a scene where the remaining survivors have to travel under water to escape death is right out of " alien resurrection .
"
there 's even a jet ski chase like " hard rain .
"
and the list goes on .
watching " deep rising " 's cast battle the beast is a murky chore in itself , because none of them have well - developed characters , nor do they seem to project even the slightest sense of fear when facing their enemy .
williams is affable enough , but his finnegan just is n't believable .
an interesting supporting cast is thoroughly wasted ; pretty famke janssen , best known as " goldeneye " 's killer thighs , is trapped in a forced romantic interest with williams , while kevin j .
o'connor , as finnegan 's mechanic , provides comic relief with screechy manic shtick that gets old fast
.
djimon honsou , who received raves for his performance as a noble slave in december 's " amistad , " pops up in a brief part .
he needs to stay away from the water .
the movie 's final shot is a groaner , as is the 11th - hour regurgitation of a subplot involving an on - ship saboteur .
as if a cast deserving of their snack food - fate is n't bad enough ( when you taunt the monster , you 're really asking for it ) , " deep rising " is a slow , stupid slog through a story without a single bright spot .
and since we all know that the higher the casualty rate is , the closer we are to the end of the movie , rooting for this overgrown squid to swallow the whole ship is n't out of the question .
[EX A]:
N