How to Chase One's Tail for 30 Years or so... (A review of David Fincher's Zodiac)

As the lights went on and the credits rolled, I looked around to see the reaction of the audience around me. The looks on the faces of people ranged from baffled to disappointed to �why have a spent my money on 3 hour movie where the killer never gets caught?�� Indeed, I think I can confidently assume that David Fincher�s new opus into the heart of the dark side of the American Psyche is sure to garner reaction of this sort in movie theaters across the globe. That is no to say that this film is anything short of brilliant, it�s just not �Seven: pt deux�, starring Jake Gyllenhall instead of Brad Pitt.



Instead, Zodiac is a slowly paced, meticulously planned, study in to obsession and the human quest for answers in order to validate ones purpose in life. The film follows the story of four men, all involved in different ways with the case of the Zodiac killer, over the span of thirty years. Jake Gyllenhall plays the role of cartoonist Robert Graysmith, who becomes obsessed with the murder mysteries after deciphering a coded message sent to the newspaper by the killer. In his quest to find out who the murder is, we see him slowly sacrificing everything important in his life (job, family, etc.). This is by far, Gyllenhall�s finest performance of his career, as is that of Mark Ruffalo, who excels in the role of Inspector David Toschi. The real scene stealer in this movie though, has to be Robert Downey Junior whose portrayal as journalist Paul Avery manages to be both funny and heartbreaking at the same time. It is worth noting that Downey injects a much needed sense of humor in am almost exhausting film, allowing the audience to breath every once in a while.



The most striking aspect of Zodiac is the way is decides to scare its audience, not through its murder scenes, but through its ambience, showing Fincher�s growth as a director since his earlier films, such as Seven and The Game, which relied much more on shocking its audiences into submission. The most terrifying scenes are those where we are shown the impact of the unsolved case on lives of those involved with it.



One large problem with the film though, is the barrage of information it unloads on its audience over the course of three hours, most of which is meaningless and has the films main characters chasing their own tails. Although this element of the film serves its plot and purpose very well, there were a few moments where it weighed the picture down very closely to boredom. That one gripe aside though, Zodiac is a highly recommended film which not only challenges the concept of the run of the mill Hollywood thrillers, but re-invigorates it with new life.