Daryl Zero (Pullaman) is the worlds greatest private investigator. Along with his assistant, Steve Arlo (Stiller) he solves impossible crimes with apparent ease. He is a superlative version of a modern Sherlock Holmes. His privacy is his utmost concern and goes to great lengths to never be known or identified. When he is not working on a case, Zero is at constant odds with himself. He has limited social interaction and continues his pursuit of being a musician, which he is horrible at. His current case, involves blackmailing a wealthy executive (O'Neal), and in solving it he gets emotionally involved with an enigmatic and mysterious young woman (Dickens).

This is a pretty unique film. It weaves in between comedy, suspense and mystery with such a carefree hand that it makes it quite fun to follow and believe in. It is very interesting and at the same time both human and understated. Pullman and Stiller work wonderfully together and I am surprised it didn't initiate more projects together. It has many elements of Film Noir, but seems to be both mocking the genre and eclipsing its better qualities with such an unbelievably adept gumshoe as the protagonist. We are given a gifted hero - who is flawed, and he is hard not to appreciate.  out of