rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 2007
Directed by David Fincher; produced by Céan Chaffin, Bradley J. Fischer, Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, James Vanderbilt; screenplay by James Vanderbilt
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, John Carroll Lynch, Chloë Sevigny, Elias Koteas, Dermor Mulroney, Philip Baker Hall
Again David Fincher delivers a well made thriller with 'Zodiac', working also as a dramatic crime story. After 'Seven', 'The Game' and 'Panic Room' he continues the genre with a terrific fact-based film about a notorious killer in San Francisco, randomly killing in 1960s and 1970s. The first is first investigated by a cop, and later by a cartoonist named Robert Graysmith, who wrote the book on which the film is based. The adaptation couldn't be more pleasing.
The killings are mostly the first part of the film. In a series of suspenseful, sometimes shocking events, Fincher shows how they happened, starting in the late 1960s. The killer shows himself to the world with a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle. He calls himself Zodiac. At the Chronicle we meet Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.), at first the main man on the story, and cartoonist Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), who gets Avery's attention with some clever predictions.
On the force investigating the case the most important person is Inspector David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo). His partner is Inspector William Armstrong (Anthony Edwards), while also working close with Sgt. Mulanax (Elias Koteas). Besides them we meet the Captain, Marty Lee (Dermot Mulroney), and a lawyer named Melvin Belli (Brian Cox). The second part of the film deals with the investigation, mostly by Toschi. He ends up with two suspects, but too little evidence gives him no case against either one of them.
Than the third and final part takes off with Graysmith as the man who just can not let go. Around here, already in the 1970s, the Zodiac, quiet for a while, lets his voice hear again. Graysmith decyphers one of the crypted messages the Zodiac sends, which gives him an opportunity to find the real identity. This is more important to him than his girlfriend Melanie (Chloë Sevigny). As did Avery and Toschi before him, Graysmith gets obsessed with the case. It has turned Avery into a drunk. After some of Graysmith's revelations Toschi decides to help him.
The fascinating things about this film, flying by in two hours and a half, is how detail is given to the main characters. Not just about their investigations, but the people. We have really get to know Avery, and especially Toschi and Graysmith. While doing this the investigations, both of them, are interesting on their own term, and single scenes create a lot of suspense. And not just in the first part where the killer does his thing. The Zodiac calls from time to time, and even these phone calls, while nothing is said, are exciting.
Just like Fincher's other films I loved 'Zodiac'. Both 'Seven' and 'Fight Club' can be found in my top 100, and although 'Panic Room' was not really great, I adored its visual style. 'The Game' represents the most implausible fun I've ever had. For me a Fincher-film is something I am looking forward to by now, which is exactly what I do with his next project, the F. Scott Fitzgerald adaptation 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'. If the quality comes close to 'Zodiac' he has made a good film.