Engrossing Crime Drama, A Great Film Overall

Rating: 10/10 (3 March 2007)

I can't remember the last time I saw a movie in which I didn't want to miss a single frame. "Zodiac", an excellent film by director David Fincher fills that bill however. The movie is gripping and full of tension from start to finish even though the story of the infamous "Zodiac" killer of northern California is well known to many of us who lived through it. It is a completely fascinating crime drama, one which I think actually surpasses Fincher's noted "Se7en" in quality.
For those who are unfamiliar with the story, this strange killer terrorized northern California during the 70's and late 60's and relied on cryptology as well as astrological symbols to further his reign of terror. Completely unrelated to another "Zodiac" killer who used similar astrological codes and stalked the New York City area in the early 90's, the story of the California "Zodiac" has found it's way into the annals of crime lore, possibly ranking up with such stories as the "Black Dahlia", or "Jack the Ripper" as one of the most noted unsolved crime mysteries to date.
"Zodiac" captures the look and feel of late 60's and early 70's San Francisco and Northern California, an era of the Patty Hearst kidnapping, "free love" and Ronald Reagen as California governor. As a "period piece", the film is remarkably authentic, capturing all aspects of that era down to the famous giant "smiles" on the now defunct PSA (Pacific Southwest Airlines) airplanes. It looked as if it actually had been made during the time period in which it was set, rather than almost 30 years later. The cinematography is excellent throughout and there are two particularly breathtaking shots in the movie, one of the valley around Modesto, California at night and another taken from the top of the Golden Gate bridge.
"Zodiac" in fact reminded me in both look, feel and attention to detail of another great thriller about the same era in US history, (albeit a political thriller in that case) the great "All The President's Men", by Alan Pakula. I found the "Golden Gate Bridge" shot in this movie to be very reminiscent of the famous shot taken from the top of the Library of Congress in Pakula's thriller and the entire movie details a similarly intense, relentless quest for the truth as in "All The President's Men".
Fincher keeps the action taut, with a sense of underlying danger permeating the entire movie. While one might quibble with a few scenes here and there (for example, one scene where a woman and her baby are kidnapped by the Zodiac is never fully developed or it's outcome fully explained) the movie is particularly thorough in detailing the story. The acting is universally excellent throughout the film and Robert Downey Jr. is particularly good, playing a quirky, alcoholic reporter who faces the same type of demons that Downey himself apparently faced earlier in his life.
One of the better crime dramas in recent years, I would highly recommend this film.