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Zero EffectRating:
Release Date: 14 July, 1998 Retail Price: $19.98 OUR Price: $17.99 You SAVE: $1.99! Cast: Complete Cast (7 total) |
Zero Effect Reviews
Circle gets the square!
Zero Effect (Jake Kasdan, 1998)
I saw this movie a few days ago, and have been mulling it over in my head ever since. I'm still trying to figure out if I liked it or not. I think so, but can't be sure.
Darryl Zero (While You Were Sleeping's Bill Pullman) is a private detective. Except he's a very odd private detective. He never meets with clients, always talking to them through his intermediary Steve Arlo (Keeping the Faith's Ben Stiller). He is quite capable of doing his job, and doing it well, but when he's off the clock, he turns into a neurotic wreck (did you ever see Creepshow? Think E. G. Marshall, but the sloppy version). Zero accepts a case from Gregory Stark (Ryan O'Neal), a wealthy chap who's being blackmailed. He won't say what he's being blackmailed about, of course. The farther into the case Zero gets, the odder things become, and on top of it all he finds himself extremely attracted to Gloria Sullivan (Thank You for Smoking's Kim Dickens), a paramedic he meets in the course of investigation.
Kasdan's feature film debut is a fun little flick, at least. Pullman is surprisingly good in the role, a definite change from the calm, tightly-wound types he normally plays. This is also one of those rare films where Ben Stiller shows that he can, in fact, act. Dickens also turns in an above-average performance, but everyone else involved seems rather dull; even O'Neal seems to be doing a (rather passable) attempt at a William Shatner impersonation. Amusing for what it is, but is loses its lustre when carried on for an entire film. Angela Featherstone, playing Arlo's girlfriend, seems thrown into the film solely for eye candy (the subplot that develops because her character exists could have been done in a number of ways), and the majority of the minor characters seem to be there for window dressing more than anything else. Also, the pace could have used a bit of tightening.
Still, not a bad movie by any means; it's just a first film, with many of the hallmarks of a first film. ** ½
Maybe the best movie of 1998...
This is an extremely entertaining little film - with Bill Pullman providing most of the laughs - alongside the usually comic Ben Stiller - who is somewhat serious in this role. The film is about an extremely talented private dick who is inexperienced in his own personal life - which takes an almost classic twist (reminiscent of some old hollywood films) when he falls for the charms of someone - who turns out to be equally adept at hiding things. This is a very unique, intelligent movie that will leave you satisfied and a little bit excited about what you have seen. I think this gives us a glimpse of what hollywood these days is capable of, but rarely delivers - a charming character study!
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