Movie Review: Zero Effect - Elementary, My Dear Ben Stiller

Of all the iconic characterizations in fiction, The Detective is one of the most pervasive. Who doesn't enjoy watching someone of extraordinary mental capacity examine this tangled web we humans weave, sort out its many threads and assign proper blame to the baddies and exoneration to the innocent? The Detective is the personification of one of civilization's most prized dreams — justice.

Although many claim the modern conception of The Detective began with Edgar Allan Poe's stories of the fictional C. Auguste Dupin (first appearing in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"), it arguably came to its apex with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. One can trace elements of every great detective since, from Philip Marlowe to Colombo to Monk to any of the CSI-ers or Law & Order-ers gracing our televisions, back to this quintessence of gumshoehood. Holmes is no stranger to the visual mediums himself, having been played over the years by, amongst others, Basil Rathbone, Peter Cushing, Jeremy Brett, and, in theaters soon, Robert Downey, Jr. However, one of my all-time favorite portrayals of Sherlock Holmes is in a movie that, well, Sherlock Holmes isn't in.

I'm referring to Zero Effect, the 1998 film starring Ryan O'Neal, Ben Stiller, and Bill Pullman as the incomparable Sherlock Holm... er, Darryl Zero. The movie updates Sherlock Holmes, specifically many elements from "A Scandal in Bohemia," into the west coast of the late '90s.

The film wears its Holmes homage on its sleeve. Darryl Zero is distant and objective, removing himself from the passions of common man (outside of occasional manic-depressive mood swings), which is advantageous while pursuing a case, but problematic when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Zero is a drug abuser, although he has traded in Holmes' "seven percent solution" and morphine with amphetamines. He is a master of disguise, able to hide in plain sight from anyone, including himself. The film also has more than a few inside jokes for the big Sherlock fans in the audience. (In particular watch for the way writer/director Jake Kasdan twists Holmes' description of Irene Adler as "The Woman" to Darryl Zero's jokey yet heartbreaking "She was the only woman. Period.")

Article Author: Jake Thomas

Jake Thomas is a writer/actor currently living in Brooklyn, NY. He graduated from NYU with degrees in Theatre and English Lit. He spends his days watching movies, working to pay the rent, and now, apparently, blogging. …

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