Wow

Rating: 9/10 (12 March 2007)

The friend I went to see this with remembers when this case was in the news. I don't remember it at all but I was not much of a news junkie back then. With that in mind, the only thing that kind of spoiled this for me was that after reading all the reviews, I was told that the movie has no closure for the viewer, that the killer was never caught so you might leave it feeling a bit cheated. If the real killer was never caught and the movie is faithful to the actual events, why is this even mentioned? I liked the other David Fincher movies I've seen and this is probably better than all of them, in many ways. Its a careful, detailed telling of this serial killer that terrorized various communities in California for years. He's up to the task and did not glorify the acts or the criminal.
After cops David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and William Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) investigate this case for years, it goes cold, as it would. Then the cartoonist Jake plays sets his sights on picking up the pieces. He's always been interested in it, but as a cartoonist (not even a reporter!), he's been very limited on what evidence he was privy to. He dedicates himself to it and unearths things that the cops missed. The movie makes the point several times that the police on the case, from a number of different precincts, do not always have their efforts coordinated.
Two scenes are very memorable. The first when Toschi, Armstrong and another cop named Jack Mulanax (played by Elias Koteas) interview a man named Arthur Leigh Allen (he is played by John Carroll Lynch, who I enjoyed in "Fargo" and "Volcano" and "Bubble Boy" which starred Jake) at his place of work. The cops 'like' him for the crime and the scene is very well done at creating tension from all the points of view.
That's nothing compared to the other great scene. Its near the end and Robert (Jake) is going at the evidence with a vengeance. He interviews a man named Bob Vaughn (played by Charles Fleisher) at this home. This scene is straight out of Alfred Hitchcock..just terrific.
Really great movie..don't get turned off by the length of it. It needs that much time because its complex. You will not get bored by the details either. 9/10.