Frustrating, Yet Worth It

Rating: 8/10 (23 November 2019)

This film is a perfect example of powerhouse actors elevating a screenplay beyond its mediocre potential. The script was extremely dry with (probably) literal quotes from the real-life detectives, and comedic notes that were attempted hit offbeat. The immensely talented cast was able to make this much more than it would have been.
The plot meanders from character to character without any apparent purpose for switching the point of view. It became extremely frustrating. For a good portion of the film, the viewer isn't even certain who the main character is, due to the constant switching between RDJ, Gyllenhall, Mark Ruffalo, and even Anthony Edwards to an extent. By about the two hour mark, the viewer is left wondering if there was any reason to include the point of view of those characters at all. I am only able to attribute this weakness to an attempt to be faithful to the source material of Zodiac, Fincher making certain he hit each event in the timeline to make Robert Graysmith's case coherent.
But.
There are two scenes that are peak fucking Fincher.
Much like the near-end of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo when Mikael Blomkvist confronts (villain), Fincher creates the same pillow-clenching, breathless tension for Robert Graysmith with another suspect. I was literally on the edge of my seat holding two pillows to my chest. On top of that, the other gripping scene occurs halfway through when Mark Ruffalo and two other detectives are interviewing Arthur Leigh Allen. Fincher shot the scene of the four men from about 8 different camera angles as Allen recounts persuasive reasons for why the evidence against him can be explained away.
Lastly, the final 40 minutes of the film makes up for the shortcomings of the first two acts. Not coincidentally, this is the only portion of the film that maintains a constant point of view without switching. And it has one of the two peak-Fincher scenes.