Line #19 Film/ZigZag2002


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zig_zag_2002.jpg]]
2	''Zig Zag'' is a 2002 American drama film written and directed by Creator/DavidSGoyer, based on a 1999 novel by Landon J. Napoleon.
3
4	Louis "[=ZigZag=]" Fletcher (Creator/SamJonesIII) is a fifteen-year-old autistic boy who works as a dishwasher at a restaurant. His father David (Creator/WesleySnipes) threatens to kick him out of the house if he can't pay rent, so [=ZigZag=] steals $9,000 from his boss, Mr. Walters (Creator/OliverPlatt), using his talent for remembering numbers to break into the safe. Dean Singer (Creator/JohnLeguizamo), [=ZigZag=]'s mentor from the Big Brother program, is dying of cancer, and before he goes, he is determined to return the money, even though [=ZigZag=]'s father has already used it to pay off the loan shark Cadillac Tom (Luke Goss).
5	----
6	!!''Zig Zag'' contains examples of:
7	* FiveFiveFive: Every single stripper who works at the Monkey Cage has this number.
8	* AbusiveParents: [=ZigZag=]'s father violently punches and kicks him and charges him rent even though he's only fifteen.
9	* AndStarring: Sam Jones III as [=ZigZag=] and Creator/WesleySnipes.
10	* AngryCollarGrab: Singer does this to an employee at the Monkey Cage for calling [=ZigZag=] a retard. Towards the end of the movie, Detective Hawke (Sherman Augustus) does it to Walters because he's sick of his rude behavior.
11	* BaffledByOwnBiology: [=ZigZag=] thinks he's [[EmbarrassingDampSheets wet the bed]], but it's actually his first NocturnalEmission.
12	* BatterUp: [=ZigZag=]'s father used to beat him with a baseball bat he called Black Beauty until [=ZigZag=] and Singer stole it and tossed it into the river. In the present day, he threatens Singer with a different baseball bat.
13	* BecauseISaidSo: This is Singer's explanation for why [=ZigZag=] can't have sex until he's eighteen.
14	* BeneathSuspicion: Both Walters and Hawke almost immediately write off the autistic dishwasher as a suspect.
15	* BlindedByTheLight: [=ZigZag=]'s favorite part of his shift is when the light from outside is so bright that he has to navigate by touch, because that makes it easier for him to go on autopilot and retreat inside his head.
16	* BrokenWindowWarning: [=ZigZag=] moves in with Singer after his dad is jailed for beating up a crack dealer who turned out to be a cop. When his dad gets out on parole, he breaks a window in Singer's apartment before he appears and tries to beat them both up.
17	* CamelCase: How [=ZigZag=] apparently spells his nickname.
18	* CameraFiend: Singer takes lots of pictures, often of [=ZigZag=].
19	* CharacterNarrator: [=ZigZag=] narrates many scenes.
20	* CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon: Walters says, "I find the prick who did this, I'm gonna scoop out his eyeballs and stick 'em right up his ass."
21	* DeadFootLeadfoot: Singer and [=ZigZag=] are driving a forklift together at Singer's workplace when Singer passes out with his foot on a pedal, causing the forklift to veer out of control.
22	* DeathByChildbirth: One possible explanation of what happened to [=ZigZag=]'s mother, although [=ZigZag=] doesn't know for sure.
23	* DeskSweepOfRage: Cadillac Tom does this after [=ZigZag=] and Singer mess up a stripper's audition.
24	* EroticDream: [=ZigZag=] has his first on Singer's couch after he visits a strip club. At first he thinks he's had a PottyFailure and apologizes to Singer.
25	* EvilCannotComprehendGood: [=ZigZag=]'s father is baffled when Singer tells him he cares about [=ZigZag=], as he doesn't understand how anyone could love someone like that.
26	* EyesAlwaysAverted: [=ZigZag=] doesn't usually look at people when he talks to them, which enrages both his father and Mr. Walters.
27	* HandOrObjectUnderwear: A stripper covers her breasts when [=ZigZag=] and Singer walk in on her audition, prompting Cadillac Tom to wonder how she's going to deal with dancing nude in front of 200 men.
28	* HandshakeRefusal: Hawke extends his hand to [=ZigZag=], who ignores it.
29	* LastNameBasis: [=ZigZag=] always addresses Dean Singer as Singer.
30	* MeanBoss: Walters is always yelling at and insulting his employees and is fond of using racial slurs.
31	* NecktieLeash: The prostitute Jenna (Creator/NatashaLyonne) does this while trying to seduce Walters because she desperately needs $100.
32	* NotNowKiddo: When [=ZigZag=] tells Singer that he took Walters' money, Singer originally thinks he's talking about something that happened in his head and doesn't believe him until he sees one of the paychecks [=ZigZag=] stole. By that point, Singer has accidentally confused [=ZigZag=] so much that it's hard to get any useful information out of him.
33	* ObfuscatingStupidity: Mr. Walters suspects [=ZigZag=]'s "dum-dum" act is 95% fake.
34	* OffTheRecord: Hawke interviews [=ZigZag=] off the record because he doesn't have either permission from a parent or verification that he's eighteen. Towards the end, Hawke tells him "strictly off the record" that if he puts his face next to the one-way mirror that Walters uses to spy on his employees, he can look into Walters' office.
35	* OnlyFriend: Singer doesn't have any friends besides [=ZigZag=], as he thinks they're more trouble than they're worth.
36	* PickACard: [=ZigZag=] entertains Singer with card tricks in the hospital.
37	* ReallySeventeenYearsOld: Walters tells Hawke that [=ZigZag=] is eighteen so Hawke can interview him on the record without the permission of a parent, but Hawke says he needs a driver's license.
38	* SaturdayMorningCartoon: While he's staying at Singer's home, [=ZigZag=] gets up early so he can watch these.
39	* StargazingScene: Singer and [=ZigZag=] have one where they discuss Singer's impending death from cancer.
40	* StickyFingers: [=ZigZag=] has a problem with shoplifting even before he steals from Walters.
41	* TheTalk: After Singer realizes that [=ZigZag=] is so sexually ignorant he thinks his penis is called his "thing" and is surprised women don't have one, he gives him an awkward, rambling explanation in which he demonstrates the act using a spoon and a bagel.
42	* TapOnTheHead: [=ZigZag=] knocks out [[spoiler:Walters]] with a dictionary. The police think he passed out drunk.
43	* ThereAreTwoKindsOfPeopleInTheWorld: [=ZigZag=] thinks the two kinds are good eggs and fear heads.
44	* ThiefBag: [=ZigZag=] steals Walters' money using a white sack.
45	* VaporWear: A woman who's auditioning to work as a stripper at the Monkey Cage puts her shirt on over her bare chest.

Context Film / ZigZag2002