Zodiac (2007) - Review

Rating: Null/10 (19 September 2015)

Zodiac is the true story of a real serial killer of the same name who operated in California in the late 60's and early 70's. Damn, this film is great, should know better than to expect anything less from David Fincher, the man has brought us other instant classics like Se7en, Fight Club, Gone Girl and The Social Network to name a few, he is a master filmmaker and this is some of his best work.
The story of these 3 men, coming together to try solve this thing and the effects that the pursuit of this goal has on each of their lives is really compelling to watch. The killer himself is portrayed in a rather terrifying way, you never know when he is going to pop up, Fincher really is a master of suspense. This is a long movie but it never feels that way, we really get into all the characters and the film is riveting from start to finish.
The performances are phenomenal all the way around, Gyllenhaal is more well known these days but this film shows that he has always been a very talented actor and he is just now finally getting the recognition that he deserves.
Robert Downey Jr is here, this is the year before the first Iron Man came out and this film could be considered the official start of his comeback and man, he is awesome in it. You can really see the toll everything is taking on him as the story progresses.
Mark Ruffalo is top notch and gives one of the best performances of his career, he really sells the desperation he is feeling about wanting to catch this guy for so long.
I would say that it's probably best not to know the details of the real story before watching the film but that is tough one to recommend too for other reasons, I will say that I knew the details of the case and I didn't affect my enjoyment of the film.
Absolutely brilliant piece of work by Fincher, suspenseful and loaded with excellent performances, highly recommend it.