Intelligent and well-made...

Rating: Null/10 (6 December 2007)

Films based on fact are naturally given a certain licence to include detail that would be cut from a fictional movie due to pacing and running time issues, so it's no wonder that Zodiac's running time is so long. Despite this, I never found the film anything less than fascinating (the only thing I knew about Zodiac was that Scorpio, Andy Robinson's character in Dirty Harry  which is referenced in this film  was based on him) and was surprised at how quickly the two-and-a-half-hours passed. Longer running times are OK as far as I'm concerned anyway  it means the producers are governed by things other than the number of daily screenings that can be squeezed in at the Multiplex
Fincher's take on the killings and their inevitable repercussions is fairly solid. He clearly hasn't set out to provide the audience with thrills, but to examine the killings' impact on the characters involved in finding the killer  either officially or otherwise. Mark Ruffalo is believable as the dogged Inspector Toschi whose professionalism prevents him from allowing the case from taking over his life in the way it does Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), but which also prevents him from completely letting go. Gyllenhaal isn't my favourite actor by a long mark, but this is the type of role he is made for  slightly geeky and hesitant, more at home in a library than at a crime scene. To him the crime is a puzzle that has to be solved. Robert Downey plays dissolute journalist Paul Avery, a role for which he presumably had to do little research. In many ways, the effect of the case on Avery's life is more devastating than it is on Graysmith, and Downey is perfect for the part.
Perhaps, the main flaw is that Fincher can't seem to decide whether to focus on the long hunt for the killer by Graysmith or the effect it has on his home life. While most of the screen time is devoted to Graysmith's dogged pursuit of Zodiac, the time devoted to his domestic life seems almost superfluous, as if it belonged to another, related, movie. Graysmith becomes a married father after just one scene of meeting his future wife, and the handling of Zodiac's telephone harassment of the family is handled almost perfunctorily, as is the eventual breakdown of the marriage. It almost seems as if Fincher feels obliged to include these details but isn't really very interested in them. And while the film is supposed to perhaps leave questions unanswered (even though it leaves no doubt in the viewer's mind as to who it believes the culprit to be), some of the questions that remain you feel should have been addressed.
In a genre that leans toward the stalk-and-slash mentality, Zodiac stands out as an absorbing, intelligent and tightly constructed entry that is more than worth a look.