"Zero Effect"
And where is Jake Kasdan? After "Zero Effect", which was one of the best films of the nineties, he made the less than stellar "Orange County", and hasn't (to my knowledge) done anything since. For such a young director to direct such a good picture, shows infinite promise. I want to see more from him.
So on its base level, "Zero Effect" is kind of a satire of mystery movies. The title character, Darryl Zero, is socially inept, and secluded from the public to the max, but it allows him to be unparagoned when it comes to his private detective work. In his solitude, he is an absolute slob, and aspires to be a musical artist, even though he obviously has no talent for it. When he is playing the private investigator, he is any character he chooses to be, but with a common trait of profound professionalism. Like Superman and Clark Kent, they are such polar opposites that one would never expect them to be one and the same.
On a deeper level, "Zero Effect" is a character study. Detective Zero is a unique person in the history of film, and he learns how to connect with people, or perhaps be himself (perhaps both) during the course of the film. I always appreciate movies like this, first because there aren't many, and second because there are even fewer that are done well.
Even fewer still, are movies that accomplish this feat, and entertain the audience as well. "Zero Effect" has an involving mystery, a good sense of humor, and achieves something on a deeper, more personal level than most films. It's funny how less ambitious films like "Confidence" and "Criminal" fail to succeed in even the modest ways in which they are concerned. "Zero Effect" should be enjoyed by the same people that liked "Confidence", and may make them realize a little something about themselves as well. I loved it.
