Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth seeing for anyone who appreciates an intelligent story well-told., 10 Jul 2007
I'm reading a lot of the same criticisms of this film so I will deal with each of the most common ones in turn:
"The movie is too long"
Not true. The movie is as long as it needs to be. There is a lot of information about this case - most of it has to be discarded. What is left has earned its place and needs to be there. I found the film gripping to the end.
"The killer doesn't figure highly enough. It is too dull and talky"
This criticism usually comes from lovers of serial-killer thrillers. After seeing a few murders in the beginning of the film, they expect it to crack up a notch as it progresses. It is true that The Zodiac is largely absent from the 2nd half of the film, but that only allows the main plot (one character's obsession) to dominate which is where the film really starts to take shape. Obsession and its effects are the point of this film. It is not a Columbo-type good guy v bad guy puzzle-solver. The bad guy doesn't have to figure highly when there is so much conflict between the good guys. Police departments that don't talk to each other, journalists and police arguing with each other, a Zodiac obsessive getting no co-operation from people who want to forget the case. Throw in a couple of creepy suspects and a series of bizarre telephone calls and you have enough drama to keep the story always engaging.
"The film's conclusion is wrong"
The film's conclusion is right, GIVEN ITS SOURCE MATERIAL. It may not be always factually accurate, nor does it need to be. It's a drama inspired by true events, not a documentary. The important thing is that Zodiac makes clear who provided its source material and the cirsumstances surrounding its production.
"Not Fincher's best"
I think it's his best work to date. Of course if you come to this film expecting to see Seven 2, you will almost certainly be disappointed. It's more like a cross between All the Presidents Men and JFK. It lacks the bold and inventive camerawork and lighting of Seven and Fight Club and its hard to believe sometimes that it was made by the same director. On the other hand, it takes someone with the skills to make films such as these to have been capable of maturing into the director that made Zodiac. It deals with far more complex, weighty and difficult material than did Fincher's earlier movies and the sober and precise style he uses is entirely appropriate.
"The violence in this film is too brutal. One scene in particular is too much"
This is a valid criticism. I found the scene in question very shocking and the viewer should be aware of this. However it cannot be dismissed as unnececcessary because it has the desired effect of letting the audience know in no uncertain terms what this individual is capable of. This action resonates in later scenes making them more effective. On the whole this is not a violent film at all.
"The acting is rubbish"
Ok, I don't think anyone really said this (unless they are crazy). I just wanted to contrive the opportunity to say that the acting in this film is of a very high standard. Jake Gylenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, John Carroll Lynch - all excellent. And Robert Downey Junior's much needed humerous touch was worth the price of admission alone!
Worth seeing for anyone who appreciates an intelligent story well-told.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
8/10. The Devil is in the Detail, 27 May 2007
David Fincher's brave take on Robert Graysmith's book gets to grip with the obsessive complexity of the source, evoking its spirit through compelling analysis of the minutiae of the case. Those expecting a thrilling cat and mouse chase in the mold of Seven may be disappointed, but comparisons to Fincher's earlier classic are unfair. 'Zodiac' is as much about the mood of 1960s and 70s California as about the mystery itself, about the dying idealism of the principle characters and their belief in being able to solve the case. Like The Transamerica Pyramid, which we see in the process of construction, the Zodiac case goes to the heart of San Francisco's modern history. The architecture, clothing and technology of the period are much more than background in a film about police procedure. Progress is hampered by juristictional boundaries, lack of cooperation, and the absence of 'telefax'. Anthony Edward's stoic cop makes a succession of phone calls at one stage to various regional police departments to collect evidence, a lumbersome process reminding us of a world pre-internet and email. With is focus on procedure and character, Zodiac belongs to a tradition of films that could be said to have begun in the 1970s with Alan J Pakula's All the President's Men and The Parallax View, and continued more recently with Michael Mann's The Insider.
This could have been dull and plodding, but the director and cast manage to sustain interest and tension throughout. Very true to the facts - some would say constrained by them - the film tells the murders as they happened, refusing to sensationalise them. In some instances, this shows the killer to be quite clumsy and opportunist, not the dark genius that you might imagine. The film is not in awe of the killer's stealth, but shows how legal infrastructure and human failure conspired to prevent his capture. It is also a timely reminder how the oxygen of publicity both inspires murder and inhibits our ability to solve it.
Despite brilliant acting throughout, there are a couple of niggles in the characterisation that handicap this film slightly. Jake Gyllenhall's Robert Graysmith is not really relevant as a character until about half way through, and the film misses some fleshing out of his character to lend verisimility to his obsessive personality. We see his descent and near unravelling in the riddles of the case, but before we can be convinced of some inherant character trait that might explain his fixation. Likewise, Robert Downey Jnr - who is remarkably not irritating as the reporter Paul Avery - becomes fairly peripheral in this film. We are told of his extraordinary knowledge of the case, and we see his subsequent descent into alcaholism, but are we to assume the two are connected? His interest in the case is unclear - is it merely professional, or is it the root cause of his self-destruction? Some fleshing out here would have helped, despite the film already running into two and a half hours. The length has been criticised, but in my opinion the film stays engaging and tense until the end. Great stuff.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Four Men, One Obsession: Who is the Zodiac?, 6 May 2007
On December 20th, 1968, Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau are shot. Darlene dies and Mike lives. Seven months later, the San Francisco Chronicle receives a letter in which the writer claims he is Darlene's killer and will kill again. This letter would not only terrify the public, but would start an obsession for four men. This obsession would ruin marriages and careers, and for the next two decades, these four men were fixated on one question, one that would never be completely answered, a question that may, within itself, be just as dangerous as finding the answer: Who is the Zodiac?
Zodiac is a superb film that is as realistic and authentic as a film can be, filled with characters who can only be inspired by actual people. The film boasts an excellent cast, with every actor contributing brilliant performances. Robert Downey, Jr., is fantastic as Paul Avery, bringing the character to life as the audience witnesses his descent from a funny and brilliant top reporter to a practically unemployable alcoholic. Anthony Edwards is quiet and understated as the cop who cannot handle the pressure of an unsolved case. Mark Ruffalo's Detective Dave Toschi is a determined and streetwise cop whose frustration almost consumes him as each lead produces insufficient to evidence to charge a suspect. And finally, Jake Gyllenhaal's Robert Graysmith is funny and heartwarming as the cartoonist-turned-amateur-sleuth who comes the closest to solving the crime.
David Fincher is masterful at bringing the dark and macabre to our screens and he does not disappoint with this film. The attacks are not as dark or elaborate as those seen in his previous film, Se7en, yet the director still manages to portray each murder as cold, callous and shocking. The story is brilliantly told in chronological order, starting with the first victims, and we see what starts off as a routine murder investigation grow out of control as two detectives and two reporters become consumed by the hunt for a murderer. These four men's stories are presented in a way that seems believable and genuine. Their obsession seems to leap off the screen and touch its audience. As the film progresses, the viewer also becomes obsessed by the pursuit of the killer, but this pursuit is not going to end with Harry Callahan shooting the killer dead. There is no neat Hollywood ending to this film; it will not answer all your questions and you will find yourself asking that same question - Who is the Zodiac?
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