Meadon (Timothy A. Holmes) said it best himself. He needs an outlet. A dangerously seething coil of pent-up violence and rage, Meadon is a self-described “anti-social violent freak” on rollerblades. He’s also a hard-core computer geek; a fact belied by his Aryan Nation appearance and permanent mosh pit demeanor. But at least he’s aware of his personality defects. More than that, he believes he can alter them enough to attract any given girl on campus; an ambitious research project upon which he eagerly sets out to accomplish. When, after an exhaustive search through the college’s database, he narrows down his choices to a short list of target women, fate intervenes when he stumbles into Becky (Nicole Helmen), a cute and bright, if a bit sheltered soccer player who also happens to be one of Meadon’s finalists. Sure enough, when the surly angst-ridden punk transforms himself into a gentle, sensitive romantic around Becky, she responds by falling for it — and him — completely.
“0’s & 1’s” surprises in the end by not caving in to what would have been completely unwarranted sentimentality. Yet, its thought-provoking conclusion manages to leave room for a highly subjective debate as to whether or not it’s a “happy ending”; easily the most adeptly handled portion of Andrew J. Cianca’s frustrating film. Far too drawn out with long transition montages of LA that seem to serve no other purpose than to provide room for lots of discordant music, “0’s & 1’s” would have been a much better film with some serious editing to trim out its abundant fat. Holmes does a decent job as Meadon, although it’s always tough when the lead is such a despicable character, while Helmen’s Becky, like the film’s “dare to be different” subtext, is serviceable. Otherwise, “0’s & 1’s” just isn’t a very enjoyable film to sit through; nor is it nearly as clever as the filmmakers think it is.
