Starring Bill Pullman as "the world's most private detective", Daryl Zero, and Ben Stiller as his assistant Steve Arlo, the film's plot is loosely based on the Arthur Conan Doyle short story "A Scandal in Bohemia".

Zero and Arlo are hired by Portland area millionaire Gregory Stark, who has lost the key to a safe deposit box and is being blackmailed by an unknown person who forces him to follow elaborate instructions to deliver the cash payments.

At the meeting to deliver the final blackmail payment, Stark collapses from a heart attack and Gloria is compelled to save his life.

The site's consensus reads: "A promising debut for writer/director Jake Kasdan, Zero Effect overcomes its flaws with its off-kilter humor and likeable leads.

"[10] Jack Matthews of the Los Angeles Times called it "a confident first film and one of the freshest detective yarns to come along in a while".

[13] Geoff Andrew of Time Out London wrote, "Kasdan's is a very promising debut, its own dearth of feeling offset by able writing, engaging playing and a sure sense of pace.

[16] The pilot stars Alan Cumming as Zero and David Julian Hirsh as the Arlo character, renamed Jeff Winslow.