"I also killed those two kids last year. Goooooood-byyyyyyyyye."
From the late 1960s to the mid-1970s a deranged killer known only as the Zodiac terrorized the San Francisco area. He called the police to report his own crimes. He sent ciphers and taunting letters to both the police and local newspapers. He was never caught. To this day his identity remains unproven.
David Fincher's movie "Zodiac" is not a typical serial killer movie. It has almost nothing in common with Fincher's own "Se7en", save the quality of the finished film. "Zodiac" is not a suspense-driven police chase movie, nor is it a gore-fest that focuses on the commission of Zodiac's crimes. It is a taut, intelligent, and detailed police procedural. For that reason alone it will not appeal to the entire crime film audience. This is a movie that requires your attention, almost as if you are investigating the Zodiac case yourself. If you can focus for the nearly 2:45 running time and follow the many threads of the investigation, "Zodiac" is a highly-rewarding movie. If you're looking to switch your brain off and watch a bunch of cops running around dark alleys with their guns drawn, keep on truckin'.
Jake Gyllenhaal plays Robert Graysmith, the movie's main character. Graysmith was a cartoonist at the San Francisco Chronicle when Zodiac began sending the paper his taunting letters and ciphers. (He also wrote the book the movie is based on and borrows its title from.) A puzzle enthusiast, Graysmith was immediately fascinated with Zodiac. Throughout the movie his fascination evolves into full-blown obsession. Likewise, Chronicle crime reporter Paul Avery (an excellent and somewhat reserved Robert Downey Jr.) is drawn into the investigation, both professionally and personally after Zodiac singles Avery out in one of his letters. The straight-laced Graysmith and hard-drinking Avery team up in their search for Zodiac's identity, and their excitement is palpable, effectively driving a movie that could easily have been bogged down with the extensive details of the case.
The police investigation into Zodiac is also examined in rich detail. Mark Ruffalo plays SFPD homicide inspector David Toschi, a dedicated cop who, along with partner Bill Armstrong (Anthony Edwards), devotes years of his life to the Zodiac case. Through them we get a glimpse of what real police work involves: interviewing witnesses (often multiple times), investigating every scrap of physical evidence, and coordinating with neighboring police departments in an age where inter-departmental cooperation was inconsistent at best. Fincher and his fine troup of actors take us along for the entire ride: the emotional high of finding a promising suspect and building a strong case against him, the devestation of having the suspect cleared by physical evidence, and the intense frustration of watching the case grow cold as the years tick by. Real police work is seldom glamorous, and the movie makes no attempt to sugar-coat the tediousness of a difficult and complex investigation.
The Zodiac case was incredibly hard on all the major players, as alluded to by the movie poster's tag line. More than anything else this movie is about that seldom acknowledged human cost, the personal and professional lives of those in the closest orbit to the Zodiac case. That's the film's heart. It's brain is its presentation of the Zodiac investigation, which is both highly detailed and relatively easy to follow. Repeat viewings are highly rewarding because the case is so complicated--you're bound to notice specifics you overlooked in previous screenings. The characters hold up to repeat viewings as well. They are real people and are depicted as three-dimensional human beings with strengths and weaknesses, not simplistic Hollywood stereotypes. The cast is outstanding throughout, and includes notable performances by the likes of Brian Cox, John Carroll Lynch, Chloe Sevigny, Elias Koteas, Philip Baker Hall, and Charles Fleischer (aka the voice of Roger the Rabbit, aka Carvelli on "Welcome Back, Kotter", in a particularly creepy turn).
"Zodiac" is a movie I wanted to catch in the theater, but failed. (See this blog's first post.) I recently grabbed it in beautiful 1080p hi-def, and I'm glad I did. This is a gripping mature drama that rewards the effort you put into watching it. As an added bonus, it has caused me to pick up Robert Graysmith's book, which has sat unread on my bookshelf for several years, and start reading. If you have any interest in serial killers (above the blood-n-guts angle) or criminal justice proceedures, both film and book are highly reccommended.
Damn good stuff.
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