In Hollywood, where nepotism reigns supreme, it's easy to understand how an underwhelming detective spoof like Zero Effect would get the green light -- it's helmed by first-timer Jake Kasdan, son of writer/director Lawrence Kasdan (Silverado, The Big Chill). The younger Kasdan stages each scene handsomely, but as a writer he stretches potentially witty snaps into disagreeably languorous melodrama.

Bill Pullman anchors the spectacle as Daryl Zero, an introverted but highly-sought-after private investigator who spends his down time in recluse, surfing the information highway and guzzling gallons of Tab. To compensate for his social ineptitude, Zero employs the reluctant Steve Arlo (Ben Stiller) as his sidekick and go-between. The set-up promises something goofy and humorous along the lines of Austin Powers or Get Smart, but when the duo are hired on by a corporate tycoon (a portly Ryan O'Neal) who's being blackmailed over his dubious past, the gags dry up fast and all that's left are Pullman's prosaic voiceovers. Kasdan's literary deficiencies aside, the nonchalant Pullman and the neurotic Stiller should have exchanged roles. Kim Dickens adds a spark as a possible suspect and the object of Zero's desire, but it still all adds up to zilch. At the Nickelodeon and the Circle and in the suburbs.