Zero Effect (1998) - FILM

Bill Pullman stars as Daryl Zero, the greatest detective in the word who hates to leave the house. Ben Stiller, as his sidekick, does all the talking. They take job from a millionaire to find a pair of lost keys and the next thing they know...of course...there are complexities involved.

Film Noire-ish in presentation and overall mood (Pullman narrates in a straight dead pan style), the film is less of a thriller than a drama with slight comedic overtones that leans heavily on the side of a romance. The film isn't concerned with the overall mystery (as there's barely any stakes involved) but with the characters of Zero and his difficulty interacting with people. It all falls down to the shoulders of Pullman and he does a tremendous job of being a smooth operator one moment and a nerve-addled wreck the next. It would have been nice if Director/Writer Jake Kasdan had gone deeper on the detective angle or the drama angle, but his decision of straddling the middle line results in a film that is great, but not the classic the material could have been elevated to. Ben Stiller's storyline could have been trimmed outright as it had very little impact on the film. Very fun film that could have easily been a solid jumping of point for an ever expanding series of films featuring Zero.