The Zero Theorem (2013)

Directed by: Terry Gilliam
Country: USA / UK / others

Movie Review: After a handful of captivating bizarre films from the past such as “Brazil”, “The Fisher King”, “12 Monkeys” and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”, Terry Gilliam seems losing steam as time goes by. “The Zero Theorem” was somewhat hollow and tiresome in its conception and never surprised me. The story is centered on Qohen (Christoph Waltz), an intensive computer man who works desperately to find the meaning of life, expected to be revealed through a phone call, as well as the reason of human existence. He’s an employee of Mancom, an obscure futuristic enterprise, ruled by ‘The Management’ (Matt Damon) who attends to his request for working at home, with the tough mission to prove the ‘zero theorem’. Once at his luxurious mansion, he won’t find the peace he was expecting, being constantly interrupted by the impertinent Dr. Shrink-ROM (Tilda Swinton), Bainsley (Melanie Thierry), a lustful woman who just wanted to feel needed, and a 15-year-old genius kid called Bob (Lucas Hedges). Stressed and frustrated, Qohen takes us into an extravagant trip filled with doubts and deceit. Excluding the initial weirdness, the film drags itself in its uncertainty for most of the time, especially during the second half. I also felt that the sense of humor adopted didn’t belong there, and the romance wasn’t strong enough to win me over. As it already had happened with its previous “Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”, Gilliam was unable to place the story at the same level of the colorful, seductive visuals. Thus, this theorem of a film only proved to be flat.