Zero Effect

Director: Jake Kasdan Jake Kasdan

Overview

Jake Kasdan made his feature film directorial debut with this oblique thriller about eccentric private detective Daryl Zero (Bill Pullman) and his sardonic front man partner Steve Arlo (Ben Stiller). After the two are hired by blackmail victim Gregory Stark (Ryan O'Neal), Zero sets up a sting operation and soon focuses on his suspect, Gloria Sullivan (Kim Dickens), a woman he met at a health club. Thinking Zero is an accountant, she asks him to look over her tax return. Clues form a trail to hitman Kragan Vincent (Matt O'Toole), who could be Gloria's father. Amid the romance and revenge, Zero manages to write a few songs (actually written by Pullman and Kasdan).

Product Details

Release Date:	07/16/2013
UPC:	0883316841846
Original Release:	1998
Rating:	R
Source:	Warner Archives
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital]
Language:	English
Time:	1:56:00
Sales rank:	35,373

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Bill Pullman	Daryl Zero
Ben Stiller	Steve Arlo
Ryan O'Neal	Gregory Stark
Kim Dickens	Gloria Sullivan
Angela Featherstone	Jess
Hugh Ross	Bill
Sara Devincentis	Daisy
Michele Mariana	Maid
Robert Katims	Gerald Auerbach
Tyrone Henry	Staffer No. 1
Aleta Barthell	Staffer No. 2
Tapp Watkins	Firefighter
Wendy Westerwelle	Motel Clerk
Lauren Hasson	Little Kid
Daniel Pershing	Rahim
David Doty	Officer Hagans
J.W. Crawford	Convention Employee
Fred Parnes	Chuck
Luisa Sermol	Waitress
Marvin L. Sanders	Astronomer No. 1
Doug Baldwin	Astronomer No. 2
Robert Blanche	Paramedic No. 1
Margot Demeter	Clarissa Devereau
Matt O'Toole	Kragan Vincent

Technical Credits

Jake Kasdan

Jake Kasdan	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
Jim Behnke	Executive Producer
Diamond Farnsworth	Stunts
Lisa Henson	Producer
Bob Riggs	Special Effects
Mary Vernieu	Casting
Janet Yang	Producer
Glenn Berkovitz	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

The set-up for Zero Effect is promising: A hermetic genius solves mysteries with his Sherlock-like powers of observation and the help of his increasingly embittered sidekick. Though the film ends up falling just a little short of its potential, it provides a fresh take on the detective genre. The mystery is chock-full of twists and turns, including a high-spirited and atypical love-interest Kim Dickens who may be more than she appears. Daryl Zero's reclusiveness and curiosity make for some original and amusing scenes, as when he gets on a treadmill next to his client, who has no idea that Zero is the rarely-seen mastermind he's hired. The relationship between Zero and Arlo is also pleasingly unique, one of mutual admiration, friendship and, for Arlo, sheer frustration -- emotions that suit Ben Stiller's comic edge very well. Occasionally the film is a little flat, taking too much time between laughs or surprises. Zero Effect was written and directed by the then 22-year-old Jake Kasdan, son of veteran filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan, and there is much here to assert the younger Kasdan's promise.

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