The Zero Theorem is Terry Gilliam’s answer to the changing times of technology. However, although the sci-fi flick poses some interesting ideas, the poor execution diminishes the potential enjoyment of the film. I’ll start with what I liked. The subject matter it deals with is incredibly relevant, in some ways, it acts as a modern take on Brazil. But, after sprinkling in some mental health references and a very brief look into what the meaning of life is, it becomes its own thing. But, in that is a problem the film faces. It seems that Gilliam tried to fit too much into this one movie, because of this, there was no time to dwell on whatever the lesson was supposed to be, and it couldn’t grasp onto one main problem the character was facing. Speaking of the characters, they are bad. I’ll just say it. They aren’t good, and the acting doesn’t help at all. I liked the guy that played the intern, however, every other character was just so over the top that there was no reason to care for their well-being. Even the main character had fundamental flaws in the way he was written. For example, the film couldn’t decide if he was the smartest person on earth, or someone who can’t even use a computer correctly. This constant tug of war between everything in the movie was frustrating to say the least.
Being that it is a science fiction movie in the future, it does offer an unique look as to what the future world might look like. Sometimes comically. But it takes no visual liberties and the world itself isn’t built on for the first hour. Before that, everything takes place in one room where the same thing happens over and over again. The characters use this strange video game console to solve equations as well. While the idea is interesting, it doesn’t work for the ideas in the story. Everything in the film is much to flashy for where we find the characters at the beginning. When a romantic story line that should have been a sub-plot became the main focus, all of this really cemented for me. Doing this isn’t a good idea in general, but when the relationships between characters isn’t even compelling in the first place, it’s even worse. Personally, it would have worked better if the character solved the zero theorem, finding that human life is meaningless in the beginning, but then goes on to realize that maybe there is more to it than an equation can say. This is what was set up in the beginning, but it is quickly thrown away.
Being that this is this finishes all my Terry Gilliam films, I must say, his latter chunk of movies is incredibly disappointing. The Zero Theorem is a perfect example of this, in some ways, it is reflected into the story. Still, even though certain ideas are intriguing, that doesn’t take away from the problems the movie faces. It’s safe to say that Terry Gilliam has not adapted to the modern age of film making well. 6.2/10
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