It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Witty, well written and well done. One of Ben Stiller's best (Mystery Men) performances, and I think Bill Pullman's best to date. Kim Dickens though, she really stole the show as far as I'm concerned. A really moving performance, strong, yet fragile, beguilingly mysterious. The narrative is interesting and amusing, not too studious or too slapstick. Cinematographically nicely done, well shot and apparently accurate geographically, seemed to capture the Northwestern feeling. The elephant in the room, that no one mentions, is that both main characters seem to be suffering from Asberger's Syndrome (or something similar), which can cause savant like abilities to process data, or observations. How else could they deduce what they did. So to me this is an Autistic Love Story.

"Zero Effect" (1998) is a comedy/drama starring Bill Pullman, Ben Stiller, Ryan O'Neal, and Kim Dickens. Bill Pullman is Daryl Zero, a combination of Howard Hughes and Sherlock Holmes - an eccentric recluse with amazing deductive powers. Ben Stiller is Steve Arlo, his representative with the clients. The job is taking a toll on Steve's relationship with his girlfriend Jess. A high-powered man (O'Neal) is being blackmailed and, through Steve, hires Daryl Zero to find out who is blackmailing him and also to recover some keys that he lost. He believes the keys have given the blackmailer information he shouldn't have. Darryl works on the case hands-on, though distancing himself from the client, and becomes entangled with a paramedic (Dickens) whom he believes has something to do with the case.The acting is very good, particularly from Pullman and Stiller, and the script by writer/director Jake Kasdan is good, with some quirky twists. Unfortunately he also has his main character, the brilliant Daryl Zero, make a couple of stupid slips to facilitate the plot. No fair! All in all, "Zero Effect" is an odd film - it's not really a comedy, actually coming off more like a drama, and it's very low-key in its delivery, which is surprising with someone like Stiller in the cast. And it's quite absorbing, not at all a "zero effect."

Frankly I loved this movie, which is kind of an update of the classic eccentric genius, Sherlock Holmes. Bill Pullman plays a nerdy bachelor (Darrel Zero) who is "The greatest private eye in the world" and Ben Stiller is his somewhat put upon assistant. Like Holmes, Zero has uncanny investigative skills, and is given to pithy maxims and asides regarding how he does his work. Ryan O'Neal plays an unlikeable tycoon (Stark) with a secret or two, and who hires Zero to help him out with his problem, which revolves around the loss of a safe deposit box key and blackmail. The rest of the story is an entertaining series of plot twists and turns. The gentle and less than heavy handed humor mixes well with the inevitable skullduggery that ensues. The ending is such that you rather hope for a sequel, which unfortunately never materialized. An under-appreciated gem.

THE first film from Jake Kasdan, the son of famed director Lawrence Kasdan (Pacific Heights, The Big Chill), is a detective comedy that works off a premise so obvious it's surprising it hasn't been exploited more often.Zero Effect steals the Sherlock Holmes mystery formula and places it into a contemporary context. The problem with Kasdan's film is that it doesn't get much beyond this modestly clever idea. Mixing excessive plot intricacies and broad, quirky comedy, the film ends up as a mildly puzzling sophomoric diversion.The self-styled "world's greatest detective" is Daryl Zero, played by Bill Pullman (Independence Day). He's a twitchy character, hair askew, eyes glazed and living in Howard Hughes-like isolation. As is often the case, Pullman seems to be in an acting class of his own, experiencing complicated inner surges and thoughts that don't have much to do with his character.This is hardly the "cold, precise, but admirably balanced mind" of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective, though the parallels are deliberate. Instead of cocaine, Zero imbibes amphetamines; instead of playing the violin, he plays loud, squawky confessional songs on his acoustic guitar. But armed with the latest in information-gathering technology and arcane knowledge -- bylaws governing motel bed placement for the past 30 years -- Zero solves cases with magical precision. The Watson of the story, Steve Arlo, is played robotically by Ben Stiller (Flirting with Disaster). He's a resentful sidekick who gets drunk and complains incessantly about his employer while trying desperately to have an ordinary romantic life after office hours. He works as a front man for Zero, maintaining strict client confidentiality, and collecting big fees.At the beginning of the film, Arlo is in a meeting with lumber tycoon Gregory Stark (Ryan O'Neal), a client of Zero's who is searching for missing keys to a safety deposit box, but who is also being blackmailed for a secret he will not reveal. In short order, Zero has figured out who is doing the blackmailing: a paramedic (a tough gamine played by Kim Dickens, who makes a strong impression here as she does in Great Expectations) who works at Stark's health club. In his quest to expose her motives, Zero gradually finds himself falling in love for the first time in his life, a fallibility that never afflicted Sherlock Holmes.The movie then changes directions to concentrate on the love story, while Arlo continues his quest to break free of his boss so he can enjoy a fling of his own. The plot is complicated, relying on Zero's weird knowledge and observational skills. But the momentum is gone long before the movie ends and one is left only with a faint sense of curiosity. Like listening to Frank Sinatra sing Stevie Wonder, it's interesting, but why bother? Benjamin Miller, Filmbay Editor.