Movie Review: "Zodiac"

One of the best movies made on the subject of The Zodiac Killer.

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Chloe Sevigny, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards and Mark Ruffalo. Directed by David Fincher.

I will admit that I knew nothing about the Zodiac killer until sometime after Graysmith’s book was released; I was born on the tail-end of the Seventies. With that being said, I’ll engage the story.

Vallejo, 1971. Two victims fall prey to a killer who identifies himself as the “Zodiac” killer. He sends letters to three newspapers, each encrypted in code. Editorial cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Gyllenhall) studies the codes and begins to decrypt them. Meanwhile, Homicide Detective Toschi (Ruffalo) is trying to investigate the murders in San Francisco. Being both a help and a hindrance, Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) decides to do some investigative reporting as well.

David Fincher is one of the most creative, if not innovative, directors in Hollywood today. Time passes by in the story by describing “2 months later,” “2 ½ weeks later,” and so forth, constantly propelling the movie and atmospherically deepening the mystery of the Zodiac. He uses to the film’s advantage the actual telephone calls the Zodiac made to the police, as well as the letters he wrote. One of the best scenes is a montage of sequences with the characters winking in and around the words Zodiac wrote. He keeps the style of the period low-key, preferring to use less popular music of the time.

The movie comes in two halves: the crimes of the Zodiac killer, and Graysmith’s endless pursuit of him. Other reviewers have complained about the change of the direction of the story. I don’t see how Fincher could have done it any other way.

The film ends exactly the way the case has: still open. Arthur Leigh Allen, the main suspect in the case, died of a heart attack before he could be questioned again. The movie gives you the feeling that it was probably him, but we’ll never know for sure.

I give it a strong B+.