| Overall Grade: |
A- |
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| Story: |
A- |
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| Acting: |
B+ |
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| Direction: |
A |
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| Visuals: |
A- |
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Reading the 'Signs'
by Ben Thousand (movies profile)
Feb 13, 2008
319
of
357 people found this review helpful
California's Zodiac serial killer, the inspiration for myriad projects from Hollywood's Dirty Harry to crime TV episodes, gets its most prestigious and purportedly accurate portrayal to date in a gripping new film from David Fincher, the creator of Se7en, Fight Club and Panic Room.
Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. co-star in Zodiac as three men most intently trying to unravel the crime spree, though, ultimately, their efforts are futile.
The Zodiac's crimes remain among the most infamous of police "cold cases." Indeed, even an exact body count remains elusive: Police have tagged him with five murders; he personally claimed upward of three dozen deaths, even once threatening to use a sniper's rifle to pick off children getting off a school bus.
Gyllenhaal is Robert Graysmith, a shy editorial cartoonist who became fascinated with the coded notes and ciphers sent to newspapers by the killer. Ultimately, Graysmith wrote two of the more highly regarded books on the crimes.
Ruffalo is Dave Toschi, the San Francisco cop most closely associated with the case (and the model for Clint Eastwood's Harry Callahan and Steve McQueen's Frank Bullitt).
And the especially colorful Downey plays Frisco crime reporter Paul Avery, who broke many of the Zodiac stories.
Under Fincher's relentless and richly detailed direction, Zodiac is a portrait of dogged pursuit. It's an exciting, first-rate study in which the meticulous, time-consuming, sometimes-frustrating world of crime investigation is energized by select sequences of terror and action, as the 1960s Zodiac crimes are depicted, and the investigation takes all three men into unsettling circumstances.
The spot-on performances of the trio of lead actors also grab our attention, as do a handful of memorable supporting portrayals (especially by John Carroll Lynch and Charles Fleischer as two spooky suspects, and Brian Cox as the extravagant Frisco celebrity attorney Melvin Belli).
The film's great daring, however, is in its finale. The creators of Zodiac risk everything rather than contrive an artificial ending. The film concludes on an admittedly frustrating note of ambiguity.
Nonetheless, even though this odyssey fails to reach its destination, you'll be grateful you took the fascinating and sometimes frightening ride. Highly recommended. |
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