Zodiac Offers Compelling Guessing Game ***1/2

Rating: 9/10 (21 March 2007)

Absorbing, taut thriller about a serial killer in San Francisco and the resulting havoc that is caused.
The film is a continuous guessing game of leads, innuendos, and much more as the state of California struggles with these bizarre killings which are spread over several years.
The acting here is top notch with commanding performances by Mark Ruffalo, as a police inspector heading the investigation, Robert Downey Jr., a reporter, caught up in the mayhem and acting in a way that you could be suspicious of him as well. In addition, Jake Gyllenhaal is in fine form as a cartoonist working for the San Francisco chronicle who becomes obsessed with finding the guilty.
There are plenty of questions, threats and intimidation along the way.
While the ending offers no complete solution, this is a film that really gets you to think.