It's hard to make a suspenseful film about a true life series of infamous unsolved murders. Investigators comb through evidence, reporters cover the story, but in the end, we know how it's going to turn out- they don't catch the guy. Director David Fincher and screenwriter James Vanderbilt take Robert Graysmith's book and turn it into one of the best films of the 2000's.
Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a political cartoonist at the San Francisco Chronicle in the late 1960's. A few murders pop up here and there, nothing out of the ordinary, until the killer contacts the newspaper, sending a cipher and egging on the police. Jaded crime reporter Paul Avery (a great Robert Downey, Jr.) begins coverage, and inspectors David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo, in one of his few roles I can stomach) and William Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) are brought in to investigate. The self-named Zodiac killer begins making outlandish threats, and continues his attacks, as Graysmith becomes obsessed with the case that would eventually affect his family life and career.
I want to say that Fincher shoots this in a straightforward manner, but his direction is by no means simplistic. He avoids the camera acrobatics that rendered "Panic Room" silly at times, but every shot is awash in detail and meaning. Nonchalant scenes like Avery going to visit a source, or Graysmith in a basement with a stranger, are turned into cringeing suspense by Fincher, Vanderbilt, cinematographer Harris Savides, and editor Angus Wall. Every scene is rich, there is nothing wasted or any lull (and I have not viewed the extended version of this film yet). The cast is fantastic across the board, with more mention going to John Carroll Lynch as a prime suspect. The number of performers with speaking parts is massive, but I was never confused and the who's-who list of character actors go about their business, doing what they do best. I am not a fan of Mark Ruffalo, and I haven't warmed up to Gyllenhaal in anything yet, so this is among their strongest work that I have seen. The soundtrack is awesome, you'll never listen to Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy Man" the same way again.
I ignore the internet chatter about the Zodiac killer, a popular trend is that "my dad was the killer" and hurried books with iffy evidence are written. I read Graysmith's compelling first book on the crimes, but I doubt we will ever know who Zodiac was. I hope I'm wrong, closure is needed for the families. Another popular trend these days is the limited series true crime documentary, but this film does not pretend to be that. This is Robert Graysmith's story (who is now a true crime writer), and it's excellent. How this received ZERO Oscar nominations in a year that saw "Juno" and "Transformers" get recognition is beyond me.
Stats:
-Directed by David Fincher
-Screenplay by James Vanderbilt based on the book by Robert Graysmith
-Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Robert Downey Jr., Chloe Sevigny, Brian Cox, John Carroll Lynch, Elias Koteas, Philip Baker Hall, Dermot Mulroney, Donal Logue, Charles Fleischer, James Le Gros, Candy Clark, Adam Goldberg, Ione Skye, John Getz, Jimmi Simpson
-Media: Streamed on Amazon Prime
-Running Time: 157 minutes
-Rating: (* * * * */* * * * *)
-MPAA Rated (R), contains physical violence, gun violence, gore, profanity, sexual references, adult situations, alcohol and tobacco use
