Review of Zero Effect (1998) by Tag T — 31 Dec 2010
This is a pretty good detective movie, but feels like it could have been more. You would think it's a comedy, given that Ben Stiller is on the poster, but it's really just a straight mystery. What comedy there is comes from Bill Pullman, in one of his better performances, as the eccentric detective Daryl Zero, whose methods are more than a bit like those of Sherlock Holmes.
He starts off the movie funny and goofy, but by the end just seems kind of normal. Sadly, Ben Stiller is just playing second fiddle to Pullman, and plays the whole role straight and understated. It was made in 1998, so Stiller wasn't yet the household comedy name he is now.
I think if they made this movie today the roles would be reversed, with Stiller as the funny guy and Pullman as the straight man, and it probably would have at least been funnier. They get involved in a mystery that, while it does have some surprising twists, turns out to be somewhat mundane and ordinary.
It was written and directed by Jake Kasdan, the son of The Empire Strikes Back writer Lawrence Kasdan; it has a bit of visual style and better than average dialogue, but still doesn't break out of its genre that much.
It's an ok movie, but not as special as I thought it was going to be.
This review of Zero Effect (1998) was written by Tag T on 31 Dec 2010.
Zero Effect has generally received positive reviews.
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