"Zero effect": when the past catches up

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The film "Zero Effect" is the debut project of Jake Kasdan, a hereditary filmmaker. Now he shoots mostly serials. His father is better known - producer, screenwriter, director Lawrence Kasdan (it was he who wrote the script for the famous "Bodyguard" and several parts of "Star Wars"). The young director invited Bill Pullman and Ben Stiller to play the leading roles. The first, i.e. Bill Pullman, plays the mysterious detective Daryl Zero (Zero), and the second plays his assistant.

The plot of the painting "Zero Effect" echoes one of the stories of the great Briton Conan Doyle about his legendary hero Sherlock Holmes. This is a Scandal in Bohemia. At that time, Holmes and his faithful colleague Watson were entrusted with a rather delicate blackmail case. It was during the investigation of this scam, because of which one crowned lady could suffer, that the detective encountered Irene Adler, who has a remarkable mind and endless charm. "Zero effect" does not follow the original in everything. However, the misanthropic detective is present. Bill Pullman did a good job as the eccentric genius who shies away from people. He does everything “indirectly”, communicatingwith clients through his secretary. Pullman was remembered by fans of thrillers and psychedelic creations by David Lynch for filming in one of the most mysterious films of the master, Highway to Nowhere.

Cases of bygone years

The action takes place in Portland. Daryl is hired by a we althy older man named Gregory Stark. He is being blackmailed and demanded a large sum. The attacker is agile and sophisticated. However, when the detective begins to understand who is pursuing Stark and why, he already doubts whether to confirm his reputation as a detective master, or to take the side of the criminal. The fact is that once in the past, Stark was literally obsessed with a girl, Jess, who accused him of violence. The enraged gentleman hired a killer and destroyed his former lover. She, however, managed to give birth to a daughter. It is Gloria, Gregory's daughter, who is the fruit of that tragic love and blackmailer. The case stalled, not without reason the tape is called "Zero Effect" (of course, there is also a roll call with the name of the main character).

The premiere was in Cannes

The role of a man with a dark past, Stark, was played by Ryan O'Neill, an American actor with a rich filmography and an Oscar nomination for his supporting role in the legendary film Love Story. It is curious that his daughter Tatum managed to surpass her father: she was awarded an Oscar for her work in the crime comedy Paper Moon. The daughter was only 10, and Ryan himself played the main role. "Zero Effect" is a rare case when Ben Stiller was assigned a role that did not requireconstant comedy on the screen. One has only to remember the endless "Fakers", all the "Nights at the Museum", "Duplex" and other comedies in which he participated. True, he was able to show what he is capable of as a director and a great artist in Soldiers of Failure. It was a poignant satire on Hollywood, highly acclaimed by the critics and loved by the public.

Zero Effect premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998, but did not produce a big effect (sorry for the tautology). Although the idea itself was good, it apparently failed to materialize.