Fincher's craft maturing

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2007)

The release of a David Fincher film is a time to celebrate. Fincher has staked out an impressive claim as a director, with only a handful of films in his cannon, a few already cemented in cult and contemporary classic status. Zodiac feels a long time coming, five years between Zodiac and Panic Room; his longest gap, yet a gap that shows Fincher has grown as a film maker. Returning to the detective/crime genre, a genre Fincher redefined with Seven over a decade ago, Zodiac is by no means another Seven, stripping off controversial, heavy subject matter or Seven or Fight Club, or the free roaming camera work of Panic Room, for Zodiac see's Fincher with his most restrained and mature piece of work.
The Zodiac killings in San Fransico' is one of great unsolved cases, numerous suspects; namely Arthur Leigh Allen, with no conviction ever place upon anyone. Zodiac based upon Robert Graysmith's novel, follows Graysmith, a cartoonist for the San Fransico Chronicle newspaper, Inspector David Toschi and Paul Avery, a crime journalist for the Chronicle, three men who were the most affected by the Zodiac investigation. For an un-shut case, Fincher with James Vanderbilt's screenplay, wring every note of tension, with bated breathlessness, from the eerie opening scenes, to an ending that dwindles into thrilling nothingness. The dramatic exhale Fincher builds to never arrives, for credit to his craft as a film maker, makes Zodiac compelling viewing for a film that reaches no real conclusion. Set around the case and the investigation, Zodiac explores the obsession, turmoil and sheer pain caused from the investigation spanning decades. Harris Savides's cinematography is classically captured with still H-D cameras, bronzed out nights, information lined everywhere, capturing the time period with precession.
The actual killer of the piece, is actually not the main story arc. After witnessing the murder of a young couple, with a few more to witness soon after, Zodiac focuses more on Graysmith, Toschi and Avery, who become entangled with this investigation; unwillingly or compelled to uncover the murderer. The most affected is Graysmith, his obsessive urge to solve the investigation, at times when no one else will. Constantly hitting dead ends, the audience along with Graysmith, sift the never ending clues and leads, heading to nowhere. To Zodiac's conclusion, you can feel Fincher is smiling over the fact that nothing is resolved in the end.
Pushing nothing but perfection out of the cast, all actors deliver performances at the top of their game. Jake Gyllenhaal as Robert Graysmith, Robert Downey Jr. as Paul Avery and Mark Ruffalo as Inspector David Toschi are nothing short of brilliant. Surroundded by an impressive supporting cast, all give amazing performances; most notedly by Anthony Edwards as Inspector William Armstrong, Brian Cox cameo as Melvin Belli and John Carroll Lynch as suspect Arthur Leigh Allen.
Zodiac is David Fincher's most muted and mature film, evolving in his craft. It may not be the controversial slice of cinema many might be expecting, though like Fincher's previous films, Zodiac is compulsory viewing.