Zero Effect (1998)

Powerful

Please don't spend money on this.

Awesome Movie

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Boring, boring, boring movie. There was one scene where I cracked up laughing: "No, it's called a W2 form. WW2 was a war!" Altogether, this was a very slow melodrama. It plays out simple and intricate as well. That is, you can make this as complex as you want, or as simple as you want. The romance and body chemistry between Zero and his love work extremely well. It's too bad nothing else here does. It's a mystery that you don't care gets solved or not, you just want the film to end. Strong efforts from Pullman support the film, as does the love scenes, but not enough to justify why this was a major motion picture. Bombed at the box office, so unfortunately, it was nothing major. There were a few confusing moments, and I have to admit I was lost, but its nothing I can say here without spoiling the premise of the film. ( Hopes that none of the other reviews have, either. This is one of those movies where the less you know, the more you will be surprised.) The WOW factor is used once. No more. That is, you've seen this once, and that's more then enough. Not bad, but not good. Six out of 10 stars! Shine on, Bill !

Zero Effect is a movie that when you are done watching it, you will be hard-pressed to come up with a parallel film to compare it to. It truly is unique. Its blend of comedy, crime and drama is outstanding.For people who like unusual characters, the main character, Daryl Zero, is detached from much of life but is a brilliant private investigator. For those of you who may be curious about what is really going on with him, I would say that he could be diagnosed with Schizoid Personality Disorder (though he also has some Obsessive Compulsive Disorder traits).There are plenty of twists and turns throughout the film, many of which are totally unexpected. The acting is very well done and the script seems to move the story along at a nice pace.I believe the opening ten minutes may be one of the best lead-ins to introduce a character.As I write this, I think the only film that I can come up with that may be similar is "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang." If you enjoyed "Zero Effect" you will likely enjoy "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang" as well.

I couldn't find the planetarium in the Movie. I saw it on TV so I can't back it up to check the name, but it was something like MacRidges or MacFadridge, Does anyone know if there is really such a planetarium or did they make up the name? It would seem silly to do so. I did enjoy the movie, and to me too it seemed a precursor of Monk. I also don't think we'll ever get bored with the Holmes and Watson combination theme either. Overall a great whodunit with plenty of plot twists and foreshadowing. Ben Stiller was great as usual in his supporting role. I wouldn't mind seeing a Zero 2 myself. I was impressed with the directing and also the photography in this movie. It was clear, easy to see, and therefore easier to follow the plot.

This starts off pretty good, gets a little better and then fades in the second half and keeps fading.The twists and revelations in the final minute come too late to save the film. Once the suspense the romance ends, it just doesn't work the rest of the way.All of the characters, except by the one played by Ben Stiller, are either crooked or have no life or no conscience so it was tough for me to like a film that has so many unappealing leads.Bill Pullman's narration was pretty good but there was little else for me to recommend this film.