''Zero Effect'' is a 1998 American
mystery comedy film written and directed by
Jake Kasdan in his
feature directional debut. Starring
Bill Pullman as "the world's most private detective", Daryl Zero, and
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...
as his assistant Steve Arlo, the film's plot is loosely based on the
Arthur Conan Doyle short story "
A Scandal in Bohemia".
Shot in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...
and scored by
The Greyboy Allstars
The Greyboy Allstars are an American soul-jazz band from San Diego, California, United States, whose current members include Karl Denson on Saxophone, Robert Walter on Keys, Mike Andrews (under the pseudonym Elgin Park) on guitar, Chris Stillwe ...
, the film was screened in the
Un Certain Regard
(, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob.
The section presents 20 films ...
section at the
1998 Cannes Film Festival.
The film did not perform well at the box-office grossing $2 million with a budget of $5 million.
Plot
Daryl Zero is the world's greatest detective, but is also a socially maladroit
misanthrope. Among his quirks is that he never meets or has direct contact with his clients, instead conducting business through his assistant, Steve Arlo. Throughout the movie, Zero provides narration as he reads lines from his proposed autobiography.
Zero and Arlo are hired by Portland area millionaire Gregory Stark, who has lost the key to a safe deposit box and is being blackmailed by an unknown person who forces him to follow elaborate instructions to deliver the cash payments. Zero quickly discovers that the blackmailer is Gloria Sullivan, an
EMT with a mysterious past. Zero becomes attracted to Gloria and they sleep together, compromising his trademark objectivity. He lets his guard down and tells her that his
abusive
Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...
father killed his mother and himself.
Stark pressures Arlo to reveal the blackmailer's identity so that he can have that person killed. Arlo must also deal with Zero's absurd demands on his time, which increasingly interfere with Arlo's relationship with his girlfriend Jess.
Zero eventually discovers that Stark had raped Gloria's mother after she broke up with him. She later blackmailed Stark with the threat of exposing him as a rapist, so he had her killed. However, she had already given birth to their daughter Gloria, who was discovered and raised by the hitman who killed her mother. Gloria grew up knowing that Stark was behind her mother's murder, and when her adoptive father (the hitman) contracted a terminal illness, she used the information to blackmail Stark, using the money to pay for medical treatment.
At the meeting to deliver the final blackmail payment, Stark collapses from a heart attack and Gloria is compelled to save his life. She then flees the country with Zero's assistance.
Cast
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Bill Pullman as Daryl Zero
*
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...
as Steve Arlo
*
Ryan O'Neal
Ryan O'Neal (born April 20, 1941) is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera '' Peyton Pla ...
as Gregory Stark
*
Kim Dickens as Gloria Sullivan
*
Angela Featherstone as Jess
Soundtrack
Released in January 1998 on
Work Group, the official soundtrack for the film includes:
# "Mystery Dance" –
Elvis Costello
Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nom ...
# "One Dance" –
Dan Bern
# "Starbucked" – Bond
# "
Into My Arms" –
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its career and p ...
# "Some Jingle Jangle Morning" –
Mary Lou Lord
# "Emma J" –
Brendan Benson
Brendan Benson (born November 14, 1970) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, and drums. He has released eight solo albums and is a member of the band The Raconteurs.
Recording career ''One Miss ...
# "The Method Pt. 2" –
The Greyboy Allstars
The Greyboy Allstars are an American soul-jazz band from San Diego, California, United States, whose current members include Karl Denson on Saxophone, Robert Walter on Keys, Mike Andrews (under the pseudonym Elgin Park) on guitar, Chris Stillwe ...
# "Drifting Along" –
Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai () are an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in t ...
# "Till You Die" – Candy Butchers
# "Lounge" –
Esthero
# "Blackmail Drop" –
The Greyboy Allstars
The Greyboy Allstars are an American soul-jazz band from San Diego, California, United States, whose current members include Karl Denson on Saxophone, Robert Walter on Keys, Mike Andrews (under the pseudonym Elgin Park) on guitar, Chris Stillwe ...
# "Three Days" – Thermadore
# "Rest My Head Against the Wall" –
Heatmiser
# "The Zero Effect" –
The Greyboy Allstars
The Greyboy Allstars are an American soul-jazz band from San Diego, California, United States, whose current members include Karl Denson on Saxophone, Robert Walter on Keys, Mike Andrews (under the pseudonym Elgin Park) on guitar, Chris Stillwe ...
Reception
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, a
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
, reports that 65% of 51 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 6.67/10. The site's consensus reads: "A promising debut for writer/director Jake Kasdan, Zero Effect overcomes its flaws with its off-kilter humor and likeable leads." Leonard Klady of ''
Variety'' called it "scattershot entertainment that misses as often as it hits its targets".
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' rated 3.5/4 stars and wrote that he was surprised by how involved he became in the film.
Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote of the film's focus on the relation between Pullman and Stiller, "For all its admirable ambitions, this loosely focused first feature has the makings of a better buddy story than detective tale anyhow." Jack Matthews of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' called it "a confident first film and one of the freshest detective yarns to come along in a while". Ruthe Stein of ''
The San Francisco Chronicle'' rated it 2/4 stars and called it "more an interesting idea for a detective movie than it is an interesting film". Lisa Schwarzbaum of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...
'' rated it C+ and called it "a very shaggy and minor comedy". Geoff Andrew of ''
Time Out London
''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide.
In 2012, the London edition beca ...
'' wrote, "Kasdan's is a very promising debut, its own dearth of feeling offset by able writing, engaging playing and a sure sense of pace."
Audiences polled by
CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.
Television pilot
In 2002 Kasdan attempted to resurrect the character Daryl Zero for the
NBC television network.
He shared the screenwriting duties with
Walon Green
Walon Green (born December 15, 1936) is an American documentary film director and screenwriter, for both television and film.
Career
Green produced and directed documentaries for National Geographic and David Wolper, including ''The Hellstrom Chr ...
and directed the pilot. He was also one of the producers. The series was intended to be a prequel, tracing the early adventures of Zero as he and Arlo became a team.
The pilot stars
Alan Cumming as Daryl Zero and features
Krista Allen and
Natasha Gregson Wagner
Natasha Gregson Wagner ( Gregson; born September 29, 1970) is an American actress. She is the daughter of film producer Richard Gregson and actress Natalie Wood. She has appeared in films including '' Lost Highway'' (1997), '' Two Girls and a Gu ...
.
NBC did not pick up the pilot.
References
External links
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{{Authority control
1998 films
1990s comedy mystery films
American comedy mystery films
American comedy thriller films
1990s English-language films
1990s comedy thriller films
American detective films
1998 directorial debut films
Films set in Oregon
Films shot in Portland, Oregon
Columbia Pictures films
Castle Rock Entertainment films
Films directed by Jake Kasdan
1998 comedy films
Works based on Sherlock Holmes
Films produced by Lisa Henson
1990s American films