Zodiac

By Matthew Flint Translated by Ann Lee

2007/05/18
Rating: R Crime/ Thriller

This movie has a mission. Unfortunately, while trying to maintain the integrity of the true story and the books that followed, the film version has lost a few mainstream musts and will bore many.

Director David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en, Panic Room) was one of many industry favorites brought in to work on this movie. It should be no surprise that Zodiac is slick and stylish from beginning to end. Although Fincher uses fewer tricks as he has in past films, he retains his style while showing more of the story. Unfortunately, this movie has a three-hour plot.

Zodiac begins strong, with intense death scenes and a bewildered public, but, as the tagline suggests, "There's more than one way to lose your life to a killer" and the remainder of the movie is the downfall of all who become obsessed with the capture of the Zodiac Killer.

Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain, Donny Darko) plays a quiet yet curious cartoonist who is drawn into the mix by the cryptic letters the killer taunts the media and police with. Robert Downey Jr. (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, A Scanner Darkly) plays an over-zealous reporter. And, Mark Ruffalo (Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind) is the failure of a detective who can't crack the case. These three main characters, although well thought out, play out most of the movie in dead-end conversations and redundant heresay.

The screenwriting is the problem. It is a true story and the books were good, so break it down and make a good movie out of it. You do not have to dwell on details. We hate the bad guy, we like the good guys, the rest is already written. Instead, I was given a three-hour documentary about bad police work, unexplained obsession and a universal bad guy. Again I say this movie had a mission, but the mission failed. I give this movie 2.5 out of 5 stars.
See you at the theater.

For specific showing times, please refer to theatre notices.