Zero Effect

This modern film noir that got me thinking--what was Sherlock Holmes like as a kid?  Was he a loner who spent a lot of time reading chemistry books and books about new world adventures like The Voyage of the Beagle or books by James Cook?  Was he on the school's cricket team?  Did he have girlfriends?  Or did he, like the brilliant detective in this story, Daryl Zero, have a traumatic childhood as the film suggests?

Ben Stiller is a private investigator, Steve Arlo, who is the right hand man for an eccentric investigator, Daryl Zero (Bill Pullman).  Zero is reclusive so Arlo is his man in the, hunting down info and meeting clients in person.  The latest case is for client Gregory Stark (Ryan O’Neal), whose dilemma involves finding some missing keys to a safety deposit box. 

Arlo appears to us that he is unhappy at this job.  Zero’s quirks and odd habits (seven locks on the door, drug dependency, crazy disguises) have worn out their welcome and cramps Arlo's love life as he’s always neglecting his girlfriend to go out of town or defer to Zero’s habits. But Zero is one of those detectives that can home in on that one vital clue, knowing it means something when everyone else will dismiss it.
Part of the problem with the case is Stark’s lack of trust in the team. The missing keys involve some kind of crime he’s committed, and being blackmailed for. Zero doesn't care about this crime, being totally detached except for the facts related to the case.  But if their client won't give up those facts, they can't be discounted, which leads the completist Zero to first figure out why.  He begins to observe Stark by "imitating" a normal person, and narrates his work as if it’s a nature documentary or a Sherlock Holmes story told from John Watson’s viewpoint.
Stark gets directions for the next blackmail drop and the team follows. Zero notices a woman, Gloria, who seems suspicious and befriends her as part of the case, but he also is attracted to her. She, though, seems very on the up and up and Zero doesn’t understand at first why she is the blackmailer, and he is wary of her behavior with him, mostly because he is not socially confident, partly because of his attraction to her and suspecting her.
Zero and Arlo eventually get down to the secret Stark is trying to hide, and the who and why of the blackmailer.
At the start of the film I didn’t think Bill Pullman is the right actor for the part, as I don’t consider him eccentric in any way. He’s too down to earth for that kind of character and fortunately the eccentric behavior is mostly at the beginning of the movie. His scenes with the woman blackmailer, where he had to act “normal,” seemed more like his kind of character yet he still makes Zero's wariness direct the performance. He did a good job in a meltdown scene, showing how he’s sheltered himself from normal relationships and unable to handle it, and the scene at the diner where it seems he is revealing a true story about himself to the mystery woman instead of keeping up his fake identity. The meltdown scene begins a new track of internal conflicts for Zero and is the better half of the film.
Stiller is not as high strung as he usually is, this role involved more suspense and drama and less funny business so as a result he was not bad.  I didn’t think these two actors were the right match, but playing it as an odd couple works. It’s as much a character/relationship film, and a love story, as it is a whodunit.

The actress who played Stiller’s girlfriend was too beautiful and didn’t give any sense of realness, she comes off as a privileged pretty face who needs attention (little depth of character), whereas the mystery woman (Kim Dickens) was more interesting.  Very noirish, this is a good, entertaining first project directed, written, produced by Jake Kasdan (Lawrence Kasdan’s son).