Zero Effect

Lineage certainly doesn't guarantee quality but there seems to have been a good dollop of film nous passed from father to son in this case.

Daryl Zero (Bill Pullman) is "the best private detective in the world" and perhaps in the tradition of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson hires the trusty and devoted Steve Arlo (Ben Stiller) to search out his next detective project.

Steve puts Zero onto Gregory Stark (Ryan O'Neal) who has lost his keys and wants them back. Only his keys? Now there must be more to Zero Effect than that!

In spite of what I've just told you Zero Effect isn't a comedy, although it is often very funny. It is however very off beat. Daryl Zero for example lives on a mixture of amphetamines and canned tuna.

Bill Pullman plays Zero as being brilliant but also rather sad.

Zero can source out a clue and gum shoe it with the best of them but if he's dealing with people on a personal level he's totally inept. Pullman, along with Jake Kasdan adds an odd ball warmth to Zero, and if Zero is going to grow in Zero Effect, well he just might have to find someone to grow with. And someone like Bill Pullman to play him.

Pullman showed his class in The Last Seduction, before which he was most often cast as the fellow who missed out on the girl.

It's important that the plot isn't revealed here, so let me recommend Kim Dickens (the bemused baby sitter in Mercury Rising) who plays Gloria Sullivan with a particular gloomy intensity and Ryan O'Neal who as well as having lost his keys lies about his prowess in the gym.

Ben Stiller plays a similar character to his leading role in There's Something About Mary. Stiller to this point of his career seems to be able to play earnest types in such a way as to not make them boring, which is quite a feet!

Not to mention his other skills. Ben Stiller also directed The Cable Guy and Reality Bites.

The sets and costumes are fun in Zero Effect, combining technicolour hues with an eclectic collection of bric a brac. The story has a worthy and vital twist typical of the genre and memorable characters well worth remembering.

Highly recommended.