Zodiac (2007)
D: David Fincher
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443706/
Zodiac is director David Fincher's less-known (?) crime mystery film. It revolves around the notorious 'Zodiac killer' who was a serial killer in the US from around the late 50's to the early 70's. Controversy exists over whether all murders the killer claimed responsibility over were in fact his, so nobody can be sure how how long the killer remained active. The killer claimed responsiblity to 37 murders, while authorities confirm only 7 murders to be his The mystery around the Zodiac killer remains unsolved until to very day. Read about the true story behind this film here.
The film is deeply atmospheric and saturated with Fincher's trademark film-noir-esque scenery. It rains a lot, most scenes take place at night and the general ambiance of the soundtrack makes it a subtly haunting experience.
The actor performances are great, with some great development in the characters as the movie depicts over 20 years of the lives of the characters. I was quite impressed by Mark Ruffalo's performance, as he's a somewhat unknow actor to me, and I've never seen him quite this serious. Robert Downey Jr. pulls off a perfromance not unknown to him. The happy go lucky turned drunkard playboy we all know is The San Francisco Chronicle's main writer Paul Avery, assigned as main journalist of the Zodiac murders.
The most interesting character in the film is however Jake Gyllenhaal's Robert Gracesmith, who becomes the main character in the film only after about half-way through the film. This is the most interesting thing about Zodiac: the film seemingly has two storyarcs, both serving one overall story arc. The transition in the story from one to the other is done beautifully, and the second half succeeds in entertaining you even more than the first one. IMDB's description of the film "A San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac killer." actually only depicts the second half of the film.
The movie is just under three hours long and so if you're looking for a light quick film with some suspence, this isn't your film. If you have time to sit back and enjoy a deeply psychological and atmospheric detective story, this is the film for you. This film has become a classic and a favourite movie of mine, and I haven't been intrigued this much by a crime story since reading 'In Cold Blood'.
5/5
YouTube's spawning some crap-tastic trailers as usual, but here's the best one I could find:
Robert Gracesmith's Zodiac book on Amazon.
(THANKS GUYS BUT YOUR FAN MADE TRAILERS SUCK)
