Terry Gilliam’s The Zero Theorem is, essentially, a “best of” compilation of his entire career. The 2014 film is yet another Gilliam ode to escaping the hell of reality through self-induced insanity, another piece of the mad, hallucinatory world he’s developed through films such as Brazil, 12 Monkeys, and Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas.
The Zero Theorem, set in an unspecified future, centers around a socially inept computer programmer (the always-flawless Christoph Waltz) who is toiling his life away for a soulless corporation known as Mancom. His life hangs on the hope that he will one day receive the mysterious phone call of his dreams, one that tells him the meaning of his very existence. “Management” (played exclusively by a highly creepy Matt Damon) eventually brings on Waltz’s character to prove “The Zero Theorem”, a task which has eluded all those who have attempted it. Waltz’s character eventually succumbs to depression, paranoia, and, it goes without saying for a Gilliam film, madness.
The Zero Theorem best succeeds, like most of Gilliam’s work, when it is allowed to be at its most “Gilliamesque”. Outside the confines of his workplace or apartment, Waltz’s character is assaulted and stalked by personalized video ads that target him and every other passerby. It’s a crowded, absurd world where Gilliam is able to translate his Mad Magazine-inspired “I’m going to get every idea I’ve ever had into every frame of this thing if it kills me!” style to beautiful effect.
Gilliam also lets his imagination run amok when the screenplay (written by Pat Rushin) starts exploring its own vision of virtual reality. Such scenes are overflowing with cloud-filled skies, saturated landscapes resembling oil paintings, and fantasy-laden designs- all of which could have just as easily existed in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen or Time Bandits.
Another Gilliam touch present in The Zero Theorem is his tendency to drastically, and abruptly, shift tones throughout his films. The scenes between Waltz and Damon are chilly and nightmarish, offsetting the intentional silliness and whimsy found elsewhere. The inescapably schizophrenic tone that results is part of what makes the film so interesting at times, but also so obnoxiously overbearing at others.
If you’re a newcomer to Gilliam, there’s a good chance you’ll be turned off or overloaded by The Zero Theorem. If you’re a fan, there’s a very good chance of that, as well. At the very least, fans will happily recognize many of Gilliam’s favored aesthetics and themes sprinkled throughout the film- they just might not seem particularly new.
Ultimately, The Zero Theorem succeeds in telling a story about the loneliness created by society’s ever-increasing dependence on and desire to live through technology. And, of course, it’s also a film about Terry Gilliam’s favorite and most personal theme of all: madness is always just a hop, skip, and a jump away… And it’s waiting like a dark, beckoning void to save us all.
OPM GRADE: B
