Obsession

Rating: 8/10 (26 July 2007)

David Fincher knows how to go straight to the bone, whether that be by grisly effects or wearing down the psyches of his audience. In ZODIAC he traces the very long investigation of the serial killer in the 1960s and 1970s in the San Francisco area who was never found and has managed to mimic that interminably long yet fascinating exploration by taking close to 3 hours to unravel the bits and pieces of evidence that were to confound the police and the press alike. Based on the book by Robert Graysmith (the SF Chronicle cartoonist who became obsessed with the conundrum of the murders) and adapted for the screen by James Vanderbilt, ZODIAC holds the viewers' attention by its smart, edge of the seat development of what could easily been a too-long-song of a docudrama.
Much of the success of the film is due to Fincher's pacing and yet a great deal of the credibility of the story falls in the capable hands of a very fine cast. Jake Gyllenhaal portrays the obsessed Graysmith, a man whose life as a cartoonist for the newspaper and as a husband to Melanie (Chloë Sevigny) and father to three children is gradually broken by his preoccupation with finding the serial killer named Zodiac. He is well supported by Mark Ruffalo as Inspector David Toschi and Anthony Edwards as Inspector William Armstrong, Robert Downey as the alcoholic reporter James Avery, Brian Cox as Melvin Belli, and Elias Koteas, John Carroll Lynch and others in brief but very important cameo roles.
For some the film may feel like a long frustrating bore, but magnify that by the real life situation the Zodiac killer created over extended years and the frustration of the forces who wouldn't let the case die will be realized. Obsession such as this takes patience. The payoff is well worth it. Grady Harp