Review: Zodiac

Creepy film detailing the series of murders in California from the late 1960s, and the seemingly never-ending, emotionally exhausting, dedicated manhunt. Our chief protagonist is San Francisco Chronicle political cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), who becomes obsessed by the case (the Zodiac himself appears to be communicating with Chronicle staff through coded messages), perhaps to the extent of endangering his life and those of his family. Chloe Sevigny is the stereotypical worried wife, one half expects her to walk in on Gyllenhaal creating a giant mashed potato dome in the dining room. Graysmith hooks up with dishevelled star crime reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr., playing it like a typical Robert Downey Jr. character). The other important figure in all this is Inspector Toschi (Mark Ruffalo), who also served as the model for “Dirty Harry” and “Bullitt”, the former of which had a villain called ‘The Zodiac Killer’. John Getz and (a very bored-looking) Dermot Mulroney play Gyllenhaal’s and Ruffalo’s respective employers, Brian Cox plays a camera-hogging attorney the Zodiac contacts, Philip Baker Hall is the crucial handwriting expert used to help identify the killer, Anthony Edwards plays Ruffalo’s partner, who eventually becomes burned out. Elias Koteas and Donal Logue play cops reluctant to help Graysmith on his investigation, with the lack of co-operation even between law enforcement agencies perhaps being a major blunder. John Carroll Lynch plays a convicted paedophile, who for many reasons appears to be the perfect suspect.

 

Basically “All the President’s Men” for the Zodiac Killer case. This 2007 David Fincher (“Fight Club”, the underrated “Panic Room”) retelling of the infamous Zodiac Killer case may not be as overtly stylised as his previous (and excellent) serial killer film “Se7en”, but it still looks terrific and is at times, truly unsettling – particularly early on. The film has a sense of uneasiness that’s hard to shake afterwards. Some of the early scenes of the Zodiac going on his killing spree are chilling, and there’s one late encounter between Gyllenhaal and a shifty-looking possible suspect expertly played by Charles Fleischer (AKA Roger Rabbit), that is almost unbearably suspenseful. I also like how the film shows just how complex the case was, as Zodiac proved to be pretty damn intelligent – or at least extremely elusive.

 

We also have several excellent performances, notably the always underrated Gyllenhaal, the scene-stealing Downey, and a startling John Carroll Lynch as a possible suspect. Is the film too long? Yes, two and a half hours is too long even for a fascinating subject as this one. You might find your mind going for a bit of a wander from time to time. Otherwise, this is rock-solid stuff. This is the film Spike Lee’s grotesque and utterly preposterous “Summer of Sam” likely wanted to be. The screenplay by James Vanderbilt (“White House Down”, writer-director of the solid “Truth”) is from the book by Robert Graysmith himself. Loved that positively chilling ending, though those with fairly intimate knowledge of the case might question the conclusion one is supposed to draw from it (It goes against pretty hard evidence on the case).

 

Rating: B-