Engrossing but overlong

Rating: 7/10 (10 March 2014)

Zodiac is often compelling, with solid performances, a good sense of place, some really disturbing and suspenseful moments and a great soundtrack. It is also much too long, as though made by someone so enamored with its story that they couldn't bear to cut a single moment from it.
While this movie recreates in distressing detail the killings of the serial killer known as The Zodiac, for the most part it is an investigative movie along the lines of All the President's Men, one fascinated by evidence and research. The difference is this movie is also heavily focused on obsession.
The acting is good, particularly Jake Gyllenhaal as a jittery cartoonist who becomes obsessed with the case. The investigation itself is involving, although at times it can be hard to keep up with the steady stream of clues that lead investigators running around.
Still, it's too long, and it doesn't feel like it's a movie that *needs* to be this long to tell the story. In fact, while I really liked Robert Downey Jr.'s performance, his character wasn't especially necessary to the story being told; he should have been a fairly minor character. That could have cut a half hour off the running time without losing anything essential to the story.
Even though it's too long, though, it's worth seeing.