by Scott Jentsch

Apr 21, 2005

Bill Pullman is better known to me as the nice guy from "While You Were Sleeping" and the less-than-believable President of the United States in "Independence Day" but his performance in this movie shows a different side to his range as an actor. Daryl Zero is an eccentric and reclusive private investigator that is brilliant at work but inept at life. Pullman's portrayal of this character is essential to the story and he does a great job.

While watching it, this movie reminded me of some other crime dramas like "The Spanish Prisoner," "Heist," and "Confidence" where you have an interesting set of characters wrapped around a plot that almost gets left in the background because you become more interested in the people than in the mystery that brought them together.

Unfortunately, it also shares another common trait with the David Mamet dramas in that the casting of the female lead is a missed opportunity. It's almost as if the intention is to put someone who is not alluring and mysterious into a role where she is supposed to have an alluring and mysterious aura about her. The casting and/or performance of Kim Dickens is probably the weakest characteristic of the movie. It's not so bad, however, that you aren't able to overcome it.

"Zero Effect" didn't make a big splash when it was in theaters in 1998, but I recommend it as a movie worth seeing when you are tired of the cookie cutter "Action/Adventure" movies and would like to see something better.