Sam's Blog - The Zero Theorem

Nearly twenty years after 12 MONKEYS, Terry Gilliam finally takes another trip to the future with THE ZERO THEOREM, a bizarre film about the meaning of life. Unfortunately, this new addition to Gilliam's belt of work comes nowhere near to its sci fi predecessor, just as epic in grandeur but not so much with content.

Qohen Leth (Christoph Waltz) is a reserved, quiet man who "crunches entities" for a corporation called Mancom, and refers to himself as "we". He desperately wants to work from home because he is waiting for a phone call which will tell him his destiny (a bit of a "Waiting For Godot" throwback). His supervisor, Joby (David Thewlis), pulls some strings, telling Qohen (who he calls Quinn) that if he shows up at his party, he will talk to Management -- the overseeing, mysterious boss played by Matt Damon -- about an at-home work request. This party manages to accomplish two things for Qohen: he meets feisty temptress, Baisley (Melanie Thierry), who flirts with him, much to his discomfort; and he does, in fact, get the chance to speak to Management, who takes his request to work at home one step further: he assigns Qohen to a special task, to work on the Zero Theroem, a mathematical equation that explains the meaning of life. This seems to be an impossible task, as Joby describes: people usually last a couple of weeks before burning out and returning to their normal position.

However, only after months of working endlessly on the Zero Theorem does Qohen begin to feel the pressure of the job, and Baisley begins to pull him from his work and into virtual reality, where he can forget his problems. Management sends Bob (Lucas Hedges), the laid-back child prodigy, to help him with his work... but Qohen may be lost forever in Baisley's spell.

While it is true that the characters in THE ZERO THEOREM are fun and interesting, it is the story that brings down this sci fi flick. The plot is a little too convoluted and heavy-laden with theoretical ideas to ever reach true satisfaction for the audience. And as Gilliam continues to cram every scene with Easter egg-like interactions and set constructions, it is hard to focus on the main plot... though these distractions are worth it.

In fact, it is Gilliam's trademark attention to mise en scene that truly makes this film. Each shot is brilliant and beautiful, a masterpiece in itself, and transports you into this odd, futuristic but strangely-representative-of-present-day world... The party scene will give you a glimpse, however laughable, of what parties might be like in the next 50 years.

Ultimately, this is a fun movie for fans of Terry Gilliam, but don't expect to leave the theater entirely satisfied. It's meant to be good fun, despite its heavily theoretical content, and it's a theme park for the eyes. Now playing at the Midtown Cinema.