The delightfully off-center characters and the twisting storyline of "Zero Effect" are so enchanting that only two minutes before the movie ended did I realize why there was such an undertow of familiarity to it -- it's a re-make of the first Sherlock Holmes short story, "A Scandal in Bohemia." As Daryl Zero reflected aloud about the young woman he'd fallen for it dawned on me that these were the exact words Holmes used to describe Irene Adler. Bill Pullman's performance is, to me, the best of his career. His portrayal is the only modernized Holmes that is realistic; Nicole Williamson's in "The Seven Percent Solution" was tedious, Michael Caine's in "Without A Clue" was hilarious but without substance. Making Pullman's Daryl Zero seem almost normal is the surreal juxtapositon of Ben Stiller's zestful nebbish against Ryan O'Neal's cold-blooded reptile. Kim Dickens' provides a timeless version of Irene Adler -- sturdy, pleasant, forthright, and ordinary in the way that people with whom geniuses fall in love are ordinary. The writing is a rare example of how the spirit of a character can be re-embodied in modern times without reference to its original socio-cultural milieu (no small task). Kasdan's Zero is intense but he does not smoke a pipe or wear a deer-stalker's cap nor does he occasionally use cocaine; his Watson is indistinguishable from the moral cllimate of his time but without reference to Victorian values. The direction is appropriately simple and tight. Too bad it did poorly at the box office, but "Zero Effect" will no doubt quickly become a "cult classic."
Mary Cadney Oklahoma City
Mary Cadney Oklahoma City