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Zodiac
Genre: Crime Drama
Rated: R
Directed
by: David Fincher
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert
Downey, Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Chloe
Sevigny, Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, John Carroll
Lynch, Dermot Mulroney, Donal Logue, Philip Baker
Hall
Released by: Paramount
Pictures
In
Short: Great performances and a compelling
fact-based story of an iconic American
serial killer make for another film to
remember by the director of “Se7en.” |
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Magnificent
Obsession
Stalking
a Serial Killer
by
Jenny Peters
Back
in 1995, director David Fincher brought the world “Se7en,” a
modern classic in the serial-killer film genre. After
a long-time shift to other subjects (he followed with “The
Game,” “Fight Club,” and “Panic
Room”), Fincher returns to that genre with “Zodiac,” exploring
the infamous multiple killer who terrorized Northern
California in the late Sixties and early Seventies.
The film focuses on two sides of the
story, the shadowy Zodiac who travels from San Francisco
to northern Napa randomly killing men and women, and
the men, both police detectives and journalists, who
became obsessed with tracking him down. More of a psychological
exploration of what such an obsession does to the tracker’s
life than a gore-filled horror thriller focusing on the
killer, “Zodiac” unfolds deliberately, running
almost three hours. It follows San
Francisco Chronicle reporter
Paul Avery (Robert Downey, Jr.) and illustrator Robert
Graysmith as they join SFPD detectives David Toschi (Mark
Ruffalo) and William Armstrong (Anthony Andrews) in the
long-term search for the publicity-seeking murderer.
It’s a fascinating true chronicle,
filled with strange twists and turns that ultimately
leave us wondering whether or not the prime suspect in
the case really did commit the crimes. But while the
ultimate outcome of the killer’s fate is still
something of a mystery, one thing is certain about “Zodiac”:
It is a film with some truly great portrayals, starting
with Jake Gyllenhaal’s central character. Going
from a wide-eyed Eagle Scout to a wild-haired, maniacally
obsessed tracker of the elusive murderer, he gives a
mesmerizing performance, matched step-by-step with Robert
Downey, Jr.’s brash and talented reporter succumbing
to alcohol and the emerging drug scene of the 1970s.
The rest of the film’s extremely talented cast
collectively does finely nuanced and eminently believable
work as well. That, combined with Fincher’s deft
handling of the compelling true aspects of the story,
make “Zodiac” a fascinating film to watch — all
160 minutes of it! 
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