David Finche is back! (to form? Not quite)

Rating: 7/10 (22 February 2007)

This is what we have been waiting for from the great David Fincher? Not to say that this flick is bad-- because it is not-- but it just is not quite living up to some of his previous greats (The Game, Fight Club...). The film is a bit of a complicated mess. Multiple main characters make it difficult to really tell you the story from one perspective. The film pretty much covers, in great depth, the case of the "Zodiac" serial killer throughout the 60's and 70's. Jake Gyllenhal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr are all the main focus at one time or another. This leads me to my only real problem with the film -- the script. It was unfocused, ramblings of facts, fiction, suspense and odd-ball humor. For much of the film, I felt as if the script was so crazy that I wasn't compelled to even have a reaction. And the period's of time this movie jumps through is ridiculous. Sometimes we go weeks in advance, other times just months. Occasionally we skip over some years; but none the less, we are always skipping around every 10 or so minutes. Pretty good performances, excellent cinematography, and decent direction (beside the script)-- this piece is extremely easy to watch and does draw true fascination from time to time. An interesting experiment with mixed results. Rent it!