MovieChat Forums > Zero Effect (1998) Discussion > The trick to Zero Effect

The trick to Zero Effect

posted 18 years ago by juviejay
29 replies | jump to latest

First of all, I love this movie. It is my all time favorite. And, you know what, I'm glad most people don't get it. I'd hate to see something depressing like Daryl Zero lunchboxes or something crappy like that. But, after having watched it about 20 times, I think I finally understand why it works so well. Hope this doesn't take the magic out for anyone. But the key, in my opinion is this: This movie takes the American novel/film detective genre and turns it upside down. Daryl Zero is no Micky Spillani by any stretch of the imagination. He's not even a Sherlock Holmes. In fact, he's just the opposite: he's nerdy, he's never kissed a girl (according to Arlo), he's not good at other things (like singing), he isn't confident around women, he can't even shoot a gun (at first), he doesn't wear a fidora or smoke cigarettes (preferes Tab and takes amphetamines), he's in poor shape, his "faithful sidekick" won't even write his memoirs and ends up leaving him, and (most tellingly) he doesn't even get the girl.

But this makes the film so beautiful and eloquent. The connection between Daryl and Gloria is so deep, so profound, so much more than the typical damsel in distress with a killer bod crap that Hollywood usually puts out that it's just awe inspiring. The client turns out to be the evil one, and the blackmailer turns out to be the honest one. The roles are reversed. And she's not a damsel in distress at all--she's the brilliant, elusive opponent, who turns out to be Zero's greatest friend and soul mate. And that last phone conversation between Gloria and Daryl is about the coolest, most romantic thing I've ever seen on film. Way better than a cliche-ridden, sloppy, overly dramatic, tongue battle that usually concludes most Hollywood productions. And it is satisfying. Very satistying.

Gloria: "You know, you could come with me."
Daryl: "Ah, a person can't escape their nature."
Gloria: "That's what I thought."
Daryl: "You are the best I've ever seen."
Gloria: "So are you."
Daryl: "I've never said the words before, to anyone."
Gloria: "You don't have to. I love you too, Daryl Zero." Click.

[–] fkelleghan 18 years ago

Hey... Well written!

You have a few typos in there, but Daryl Zero would probably approve!

I'm with you. I love this film.

And partly what I love is that it was not blasted into ads as a major you-have-to-see-this production. It's a very clever film done on a fairly small budget with actors who gave a damn.

I think I won't be spoiling by saying that I love the clues involving the bed, the wall, and the baby.

Not a perfect film, but it delights me every time I watch it ... which is usually every spring.

Cheers, all,

Fiona

[–] juviejay 18 years ago

Typos? Aw, I tried so hard. Oh well, at least you liked what I said. :)

"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test."--George W. Bush

[–] fkelleghan 18 years ago

Hi, Juviejay,

I apologize about the "typos" remark ... my bad. What you wrote was articulately and poetically written. [I must have copied and pasted that from some other post. I'm bad.]

May I add to your statements that the settings are particularly wonderful.

D Zero's appartment is ... well... nothing like I've ever seen.

He gathers clues from men's bathrooms, gyms, and motel rooms.

If we want to call it the climax (though I think the climax is really on the phone at the end), they use a planetarium. How *beep* great is THAT?

Even the intermediate meetings in diners and so forth are SO contrary, as you were saying, to regular noir: Sun is shining in through clear windows; everyone else is visible and not shadowy; Zero's sidekick loves most to hang out at the pool with his girlfriend.

I keep meaning to go back to that early scene where Zero is singing (horribly) his (probably ad-libbed) song to guitar, and discover whether it has any relevance to the rest of the movie. I've just, um, been too busy to re-visit that scene, lol.

And while we're at it, Jjay, do some parts of the film seem a bit dreamlike to you? I don't mean does anything seem surrealistic; I guess I'm thinking about the way that it's edited.

Gonna leave that one wide open to you. It might just be my impression about one or two scenes; I think that, in the main, it is shot about as realistically as such a comedy/parody CAN be shot.

Happy to make friends with you!

Fiona

[–] juviejay 18 years ago

"If we want to call it the climax (though I think the climax is really on the phone at the end), they use a planetarium. How *beep* great is THAT?"

Hum, I guess I hadn't thought of that, but yeah, the planetarium is an oddly poetic place to have the "climactic scene." I'm thinking now of planets aligning and star-crossed lovers and such. It works on multiple levels: Gloria and Stark, Stark and Gloria's mother, Gloria and Daryl. And, once again, it is the opposite of what one would expect in a confrontation scene between a blackmailer/blackmailee or villian/heroine. She doesn't shoot him. She doesn't confront him and tell him her secret, of how he ruined her life by killing her mother--she saves him. She takes pity on him. She keeps him alive when it would be better for her to see him dead. Of course, the fact that he is her father may have something to do with this. But the only relationship they have had prior to this is that of cat and mouse. It would be easy for her to seek revenge. Instead, she displays empathy. This tells us a lot about her character. She is not just a good person, she is an extraordinary one: she saves the life of the man who wants to kill her. And the supposed "hero" sits back and watches the whole thing. It's so backwards from how most action/detective dramas turn out. There is no climactic battle scene where the villain threatens the heroine's life, only to be foiled at the last moment by the brave, athletic acts of the hero. Instead, the villain is not killed, but saved by the heroine. I love it. Truly, this is a thinking person's movie.

Well, I'll save the rest of my comments on your comments on my comments for future posts. But, it is nice to make your aquaintance, even if it's only through an IMDb message board ;)

"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test."--George W. Bush

[–] the-regicide 18 years ago

First off, let me just say this is by far the best discussion I have ever read on the IMDb boards. Normally, that isn't saying something since the standard of the boards is so low, but in this case I just felt I had to share with you guys.
Now, on witht he post. I loved this movie. Tonight I was browsing what might be good to watch on TV and came to Zero Effect, thinking "Hey, it's Ben Stiller, sure as hell can't be boring. Oh and it has Bill Pullman too!", and expecting just your random run-off-the-mill comedy. The movie hit me in the face like a cake(sudden, unexpected, but funny and tastes good). The plot is really good, excellent even, but what really makes the movie great are the characters. Every single one of them is detailed to a fine point but through very simple methods.
There's always more than meets the eye, like the Arlo-Zero relationship, or the case itself, or the symbolics of the movie vs the detective genre.

[–] juviejay 18 years ago

"Every single one of them is detailed to a fine point but through very simple methods."

Can you elaborate on this a little? I'm not sure what you mean.

"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test."--George W. Bush

[–] the-regicide 18 years ago

I meant that the characters are portrayed through their actions. All the movie we see the relationship between Arlo and Zero deteriorate, they even argue about Arlo leaving him, but up until the end, Arlo never goes against him, even when offered a bribe. And that's just one example. Saving Stark in the observatorium? Taking care of your mother's killer? The characters are portrayed with simple methods that just might escape you as being "in the script".
Not sure if I conveyed my meaning well enough.

[–] enkidou4 17 years ago

Nice discussion, let me join :)

Nice read, but actually I think you may be mistaken on one point. Zero IS Sherlock Holmes. I've never read any Shelock Holmes books, but I heard the move Zero effect is losely based on "Bohemian Rhapsody". I aso watched the 2002's "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and Zero really resambles Sherlock. They both are unsociable loners, both use unhealthy drugs, both are unpolite, especially to thei sidekicks (Watson is also often angered about Holmes acting on his own and not filling him in). Oh, and I think Zero can shoot. He's a private detective after all and when he started he may have had some more "dirty" jobs. When Gloria teaches him to shoot, he's faking, I think. When she goes to get a shotgun, he just points and shoots with such an ease it's hard to believe he doeasnt know what he's doing. He did it, I think, because he feels the urge to be achnowledged as a talented individual - like when he tells gloria how he knew she was a para-medic, showing off and giving away an impression he's not really an accountant.

Yes, movie does seem to be turned upside down, which is great to me. Locatins? Beautiful. I could just sit and look at them, like the location where they stand on a roof and watch Stark switch cars.

And yes, one of the strong points of the movie are characters. The last phone call is ingenious, especially when Gloria call hims "Daryl Zero". He knew she discovered he's a private detective, but he didn't knew she knew that he's the most famous Daryl Zero. He opens his eyes and rises his eyebrows in astonishment. I love it.

And the relationship between Deryl and Arlo. Yes, as you said they quarrel throughout the movie, but in the end Arlo not only did not betray him, but he risked a lot by threatening Stark, a dangerous man, to kill him. Altough he didn't accept it, he knew how important to Zero is his privacy and he was ready to protect it with his own life.

Well I could talk about this movie for hours, I unfortunately don't have the time :) See ya.

[–] freudified_n_funkified 16 years ago

enkidou4 is spot on. Zero is Holmes, Arlo is Watson. Pretty easy. Specifically, it resembled Billy Wilder's semi-revisionist The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. The strain of the Holmes/Watson relationship, the drug use, the social awkwardness, the love interest/villainess who gives him a serious run for his money - it's all there. I like the little turns away from it though, like Arlo having no interest in chronicling Zero's cases the way Watson does for Holmes.

I also agree on the issue of Zero's marksmanship. He's a crack shot and he just can't help himself when he does effortlessly pick off that can when he thinks Gloria isn't looking. It fits the character because so much of the Zero mystique is intentionally engineered by Zero himself and he would know how to shoot, and shoot perfectly, in his line of work. Whereas filing a tax return clearly isn't a skill set he thought he needed.

[–] ray_kuryla 16 years ago

Actually, regarding the marksmanship, I interpreted it another way. It never entered my mind that he would have to be a marksman in the way he does his work, because he is a "covert observer" rather than a "confronter". The way I interpreted it was that, being shown how to do something, or being instructed on how to do something, even just once, he can immediately be good at it. His genius even comes into play for "hands-on" things also.

[–] freudified_n_funkified 16 years ago

That's a very cool way to look at it. But given what we know about Zero's background, we know why he's a covert observer, but his family history to me explains why he would be just as proficient in the aspect of confrontation if it came down to it - simply because of the situation he came from and the world he chooses to inhabit and pick apart. But that immediate expertise is something that would also definitely fit his character.

Yet, the look on his face when he does pick off the can, for me, indicates him indulging in doing something as Daryl Zero rather than as "Nick Carmine" - just like leaving the receipt at the diner. He breaks character. And those are big deal moments for him, as he's becoming comfortable being himself.

[–] Cha-Cha 15 years ago

I heard the move Zero effect is losely based on "Bohemian Rhapsody".

It's "A Scandal In Bohemia". You can read the short story here: http://www.mysterynet.com/holmes/01scandalbohemia.shtml

[–] Zando777 12 years ago

lol -- I thought this was a little off as well. B.R. is the song that Wayne gets off to in "Wayne's World", in the Gremlin.

[–] sherlock-37 12 years ago

Agreed. This is a Sherlock Holmes movie. It was a new brilliant take on the character. It has so many neat things in it. Great score too.

My accountant says, "1 + 1, 40% of the time, equals divorce".

[–] panu1675 17 years ago

I also thought the song was ad-libed, but in the director's commentary, Kasdan says it was actually in the script. He does say, however, that he and Bill Pullman came up with the melody on the spot.

About the diner scene, he mentions that they are in fact talking about life and the blackmailing and such, not just sky diving, so good call on your part.

I love this movie as well, and just wanted to say that all of you have done well in analyzing it.

"Think ya used enough dynamite there Butch?" SUNDANCE KID

[–] juviejay 16 years ago

Well, I'm a bit disappointed to find out that this was based on a Sherlock Holmes story. I want originality, damnit. I've only read one Sherlock Holmes book and it was when I was a kid. Must have missed the drug use. All I remember is Sherlock walking around outside several minutes to look at the footprints in the snow when everyone else was inside looking at the murder scene. Maybe I didn't even read it all. I don't remember.

But I guess I had the impression that Holmes was rather dapper. I didn't think he was a nerdy, reclusive, drug addict like Zero is. Maybe that's the film taking it a bit further.

Also, I'm not in agreement that Zero was faking his inability to shoot a gun. I just thought he learned quickly. Remember, she has to teach him. At first he can't hit the target, but she helps him relax and he gets it. Being as brilliant as he is, I figured he picked it up quickly. Remember also, that he did do her taxes even after not knowing what a W2 form was. That was funny that he had to spend a couple hours just to cover up that lie.

"And the license said you had to stick around until I was dead."--Liz Phair, "Divorce Song"

[–] juviejay 14 years ago

Okay, I finally read "A Scandle in Bohemia" and it's really not that similar to this movie. The only thing similar is Holmes'/Zero's respect for his female adversary, the fact that she's blackmailing someone powerful, and the fact that she leaves. Other than that, there really isn't anything similar. In the story, she goes off with her husband. In the story, Holmes devises an elaborate plan to get her to reveal where she is hiding a picture she is using to blackmail the King of Bohemia. In the story, there is no friction between Holmes and Watson, only admiration on the later's part, and a good natured kidding on the former's.

Spoilers ahead:

The rape, the murder, the "evidence," the love interests, the neuroses, these are all new elements.

Maybe those other things came from other stories about Sherlock Holmes, but I've read a few now and haven't found anything like that.

[–] Zando777 12 years ago

"Inspired by" might be better than "based on."

But it was clearly inspired by it. Holmes also has a love/respect feeling for the heroine in "Bohemia" -- she is in fact the only woman he ever indicates any interest in. (Watson makes this clear.)

And he was in fact a reclusive, nerdy drug-addict. If you read a good amount of his stories, this becomes apparent. His drug of choice was Opium, and he tended to use it heavily whenever he wasn't working on (stimulated by) a case.

[–] supercyberedu 14 years ago

I liked this movie because the ending was great, making it worth the whole story. It's like a puzzle being solved by pieces.

[–] juviejay 14 years ago

Yeah, like how at one point they think that Kragen Vincent is Gloria's father.

Mal: "Do you want to run this ship?"
Jayne: "Yes."
Mal: "Well...you can't."

[–] omegawolf1 12 years ago

Notice that the last (or one of the last) camera shot of the movie moves around Daryl in a circle, or zero.

[–] Zando777 12 years ago

How exactly was the blackmailer honest (as opposed to cute?)

And why was she blackmailing him? Why not just turn him in?

[–] juviejay 12 years ago

"How exactly was the blackmailer honest (as opposed to cute?)"

Okay, maybe "honest" wasn't the perfect adjective to describe her. Sympathetic, perhaps. But she was more honest than the blackmailee. I mean, what she was doing was more honest. He not only had her mother killed, he covered it up. She figured it out and revealed it (at least to him). And she wasn't hurting an innocent, the way he did. She only victimized someone who richly deserved it.

As for why she didn't turn him in, I'm not sure. Maybe she didn't have enough proof. Remember she said Kragen told her what happened, but never told her who, then she figured it out on her own. Would that be enough to convict him? She didn't have the tape (Zero found that). Kragen, apparently, wouldn't testify. It'd just be her word versus his. Plus, if she revealed who she was, she'd put herself in danger. Also, the way she did it seemed more fitting. Not only did he not get away with it, it was costing him and making him extremely paranoid. True, this did lead to a dangerous confrontation with Arlo, but she didn't plan that...and nothing happened. In the end she saves his life so, no real harm done, except to steal some of his money which was rightfully hers by birth.

[–] omegawolf1 12 years ago

This is my favorite movie too. I went to school with the guy who did the opening credits.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] viewer-1230 12 years ago

I finally saw the film tonight for the first time and really agree with what you say. I think I started to pick up what you present in your thoughts about half way through. Conventions were really turned around and I liked that. I also like where it went with him and the girl in the end.