Don't you just hate people like Jake Kasdan? He's the son of big-league writer, producer and director Lawrence Kasdan, so he gets to write, produce and direct his own Hollywood movie at the age of 23. Outrageous.
But stop for a second. Zero Effect, Kasdan's first effort, is really good. Now you'll need to decide whether to hate him even more or just sit back and enjoy the film.
Zero Effect is the story of Daryl Zero (Bill Pullman), the 'world's most private detective'. Zero commands incredibly high fees, never meets his clients, and solves cases in record time as a result of his incredible powers of observation. He's kind of like Sherlock Holmes: able to recite long lists of information gleaned from the slightest event. Zero relates with the rest of the world through his side-kick Steve Arlo (Ben Stiller), and they've just been hired by a wealthy Portland, Oregon businessman (Ryan O'Neal) to track down a blackmailer.
That's where the fun begins, and it really is fun. The mystery unfolds one step at a time, and along the way we're treated to an enjoyable view of Zero's idiosyncrasies, and Arlo's struggles with his employer's sometimes-strange instructions.
Zero Effect strikes a fine balance between the fun of the mystery, the moral questions this case and Zero's line of work churn up, and the personal relationships between Arlo and his girlfriend and between Zero and one of the suspects he is pursuing.
Unlike so many other mysteries that don't hold together throughout the film, this one seems plausible from the start, and stays that way as we follow Zero along the winding road toward solving the case. In addition, the actors are appealing and the performances are consistent.
If Zero Effect is an indication of Jake Kasdan's promise as a filmmaker, he deserves to be enthusiastically watched, not hated.
