Review: Terry Gilliam's 'The Zero Theorem' starring Christoph Waltz, Melanie Thierry, and Matt Damon

For Terry Gilliam it's been thirty years since his seminal work, Brazil, the first part of his loose "Orwellian Triptych", and in that time he's made it tough to remain a fan. Many of his films carry a similar visual razzle-dazzle, part steampunk and part carnival funhouse mirror, while imagining some government-controlled future dystopia. We've seen it all before from others and many times by Gilliam himself, and sadly his latest film TheZero Theorem is just more of the same, only it makes less sense.

Two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz takes an odd detour as Qohen Leth, a bald-headed reclusive computer programmer who "crunches" data for Mancorp, some monolithic corporation that seems to control everything. It's putting it mildly to say that Qohen isn't much of a people person. He's a jittery, barely-audible introvert of epic proportions, obsessed with learning the meaning of his life. He's so consumed with it that he waits patiently by the phone thinking someone will soon call him with the answer, and this being a Gilliam film it may very well happen. Qohen just wants to be left alone to wait for his call and do his work, but distractions arise after Management (Matt Damon in an expanded cameo) assign him to solve the "zero theorem", a math equation that proves life is meaningless. Something like would be enough to drive a person mad, but he gets help from a gorgeous call girl Bainsley (Melanie Thierry), Management's son (Lucas Hedges), a pesky computer psychologist (Tilda Swinton), and Qohen's boss (David Thewlis). They don't help him crack the numbers, per se, but to maintain his fragile sanity.

Much of the film is set inside Qohen's home, a church of great visual splendor but it's nothing compared to the chaos of the outside world. Gilliam imagines a marketing nightmare-reality where commercials (featuring the likenesses of Gwendoline Christie, Lily Cole, and Rupert Friend) literally follow your every move. It's typical Gilliam and his fans will love the splendor of it, but the mechanics of the world are surprisingly vague. The focus is instead on Qohen and his quest for the meaning of life, which amounts to him having visions of black holes and punching keys on a keyboard. It's not terribly exciting, nor does screenwriter Pat Rushin have an original thought to put in Qohen's head. We recognize his existential angst but never fully understand it; the marvelous imagery proving a worthy distraction from a ho-hum plot. Waltz isn't bad but his jittery Buddha routine comes off as too practiced, like he's trying hard to act how a Gilliam character should act. The same goes for much of the cast who pop in and out with a splash but little impact. Only the effervescent Thierry, in her array of colorful outfits and hairstyles, manages to liven things up every time she appears. Yeah, she's something of a twirling pixie (women aren't represented well at all, by the way) but at least she's having fun and by extension we want her around as much as possible.

The Zero Theorem has a pretty big riddle at its center, but the one problem it can't solve is how to get Gilliam on the right track. It tries hard to emulate the director's most cherished films when setting out on a fresh course would have been the right answer.

 Rating: 2 out of 5