Skilled directing but maybe too realistic

Rating: 6/10 (19 June 2007)

Im a big fan of Finchers work, I've seen most of his work. And Zodiac is no doubt a sample of very skilled directing. But I found the subject and the presentation too protracted in a sense. The directing was maybe TOO realistic, I couldn't keep track of the constant flow of names and new characters and places. In the end I could only remember the main three characters names. And all the investigation and conversation was depicted very credibly but then again not very interestingly. But maybe its just me. The movie did have great performances, especially by Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downy Jr. But these weren't nearly enough to save the film from its grinding pace. In the beginning and in the end there were truly great and exciting scenes, particularly the murder scenes. But the middle 2 hours were just too tiresome for me. IMO not Finchers best work and doesn't deserve to be in the top 250.