"This is the Zodiac speaking."

Rating: 10/10 (4 March 2007)

For those who are expecting David Fincher's latest film to be another Seven, don't. Zodiac bares more in resemblance to Oliver Stone's JFK than it does to The Silence of the Lambs. Seen through the perspective of the journalists and police investigators involved in the legendary unsolved case, the film provides no solid culprit and involves very little on-screen violence. But remember this is a Fincher film, and his real talent is juicing the maximum out of what little he puts on display. The murder sequences (there are three shown here) are brutal, unflinching and cold. For the first time it feels nervously uncomfortable to be watching a film about a serial killer, especially since what we're seeing is fact, not fiction. Particularly chilling is the opening murder and the lakeside attack, while both warming up with a sly amount of playful comedy, quickly and utterly shoots to painful and realistic grim reality. There's no slow motion, no quick cut-aways, no musical score  just violence, in it's most simplest and basic form, and it sent chills down my spine.
This is a crime-drama that's about as by the book as one could make, and that's both the film's strength and weakness. The film is less and less about actual character's, instead it's more focused on showing us the compulsive obsession that the case had on those who where desperately trying to stop the Zodiac. The film begins in July of '68 and ends in 1991, and if you're not prepared for it, it just might feel like it too. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Robert Graysmith (the author of the book for which the film is based on), a cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle and puzzle geek, who becomes obsessed with solving the case. Robert Downey Jr stars in yet another great performance (who is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors) as Roger Avery, a crime reporter for the Chronicle, who is assigned to cover the Zodiac killings, and in doing so becomes a target himself and it ultimately costs him his career (and probably his health too). Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards star as two San Francisco detectives, Toschi and Armstrong, working the case of a cabbie that was executed by the Zodiac. When their investigation goes from hot leads that end up going cold, the two lose their hope of ever catching the killer, and in steps Graysmith, the puzzle geek that just can't seem to keep the Zodiac off his mind. His obsession with the case ends up costing him his marriage, but like a hunting dog, he's on the case, and comes closer to nabbing the killer than any other person.
If the film hadn't been based on an actual unsolved case this would have been boring as hell and extremely anti-climatic, but fortunately that's not the case. I found myself utterly transfixed and fascinated by the case and that was enough for me to get sucked into, so much so I barely ate any of my popcorn. The way Zodiac is shot reminded me a lot of films from the 70's, like the nervous paranoia of Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation and the "just the facts" mentality of a serious-minded investigation similar to Alan Pakula's All the President's Men. Both solid and great films of that era, before fax machines and cell phones, an era that director David Fincher brings back to vivid life (as if it were almost yesterday) with the gloomy cinematography, which is shot in High-Definition, looks absolutely stellar, and the costumes which don't distract our attention away from the story. I loved all the references to Bullit, Dirty Harry and even the display of a little Pong action.
Much like the case itself, Zodiac isn't a sprint  it's a marathon. Expect a very detailed investigative drama with suspense and intrigue sprawled out over a 160 minute running time, and considering the end result of the case, the ending feels maddening, but justifiably so. I know I'll definitely be watching this one again and again on DVD. Hell, I might even go see it again this week, just to be able to process it all. This is quite easily the most complex and mature of all of the films in Fincher's expanding career. And it's no less of challenge than his previous films, it's not quite the eerie disturbing nature of Seven or the raw brutality of Fight Club, this is mental and exhaustive brutality; which captures the frustration and anxiety of the rare and memorable unsolved case down to every clue and false lead.