An Articulate Masterpiece

Rating: Null/10 (25 November 2007)

"Zodiac" may just be the most unlikely great film I have ever seen. It follows police and reporters investigate a killer, told exclusively from the outside. There is no conclusion, there is no insight, there is just police work. The film is told as the facts unfold, we learn things happen when the characters do, the people we are watching are not the ones driving the story. They follow leads, they hit dead ends, they give up. We experience the case from beginning to end.
The violence in the film is minimal and restricted to the very beginning. There is no shoot out, no contrivances, nothing about this movie is phony. That is what makes it so great to watch. It's such a well calculated machine of a rather un-sensational killer. One character even says that more people die in the commute every three months than Zodiac had ever killed. He wrote a few letters and faded into oblivion. That's just what's so interesting about this film. Even after months and years of nothing, the characters pursue the case.
The film is also just a masterwork of the craft. When a promising lead falls short, the film seemingly could end, but Fincher keeps the film running for another hour, always entertaining the whole time. Inventive camera work also works wonders in a few shots including one where Zodiac proves his gun was loaded to a helpless victim. You admire the effort, the research, the time people spent into collecting the case files to give this film a layer that is never seen, but felt through out. In short, this is just a wonderful and respectful handling of material when similar films have been lazy and unremarkable. This film is remarkable.