Directed by: David Fincher
Premise: Based on the books by Robert
Graysmith. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Graysmith, a cartoonist for a
California newspaper, who follows the story of the Zodiac killer and
attempts to solve the mystery after the detectives assigned to the case
(Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards) have given up.
What Works: Zodiac embraces the police procedural in ways that television programs like CSI could only dream of. Rather than airbrush over the actual procedures and
difficulties of police investigation, Zodiac embraces these elements, such as corroborating witnesses and collecting
evidence, and uses them to drive the drama and conflict of the story.
This film is a bit of a departure for Fincher. Zodiac finds him using less flash and slickness displayed in films like Fight
Club and instead takes a direct approach more akin to Steven
Spielberg’s dramatic films (Schindler’s
List, Munich)
or the police pictures of Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral).
The approach pays off well and proves that Fincher is not only a
technical expert, but also proficient in crafting an effective story.
The narrative is very impressive, introducing several characters and
weaving between them very well while also balancing the information
about the case and maintaining a sense of tension despite covering
several decades from start to finish. The acting is good all around and
something Zodiac does very
well is to give each of its leads a satisfactory character arc and all
are in relation to the Zodiac murders. Gyllenhaal is very good as
Graysmith, who journeys from a sharply introverted cartoonist to an
aggressive detective in his search for the truth. Robert Downey Jr. adds
his characteristic humor as reporter Paul Avery whose ego, battle with
alcoholism, and fear of the Zodiac killer destroy his career. Ruffalo
and Edwards also give solid performances as the detectives assigned to
the case, and the impact of the unsolved case on their personal and
professional lives gives the murders cost beyond the obvious lose of
life.
What Doesn’t: The film lacks some of the
typical features of this kind of film, namely the gory deaths, but this
is a film about the investigation, not the murders themselves.
Bottom Line: Zodiac ranks with The Silence of the Lambs, Summer of Sam, and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer among the top tier of serial killer films. The film’s narrative complexity and its balance of information and drama is extremely impressive and the film proves that the horror genre can be both intelligent and dramatically engaging.