Blog Entry: Zodiac

Zodiac Films about serial killers are always a tough sell to me. Usually, it seems like the main ambition is one of two; either to explore the limits of brutality and gore under the current ratings system, giving them a disturbing resemblance to traditional horror flicks; or to desperately try to out-smart the viewer with an 'unexpected' twist so predictable we lost interest after the first fifteen minutes (fairly recent examples are Frank Oz's 'The Score' and Lee Tamahori's 'Along Came a Spider'). When David Fincher's take on the famous Zodiac cases elegantly steers clear of both these cliche-ridden hurdles, I will attribute it to at least three factors.

The first and possibly most important, is that Fincher made a 'police thriller' instead of yet another generic serial killer film. Deciding to span the entire time line of this exhausting case, Fincher not only creates an excellently suspenseful thriller, but also a compelling and credible portrait of the tremendous psychological pressure that hunts all those involved with the investigation, from Jake Gyllenhaal's obsessed editorial cartoonist, to Robert Downey Jr.'s independent-minded investigative reporter and Mark Ruffalo's relentlessly searching police investigator. The most interesting thing about the Zodiac murders, in Fincher's film at least, is not the murders themselves, but how they affect, and unavoidably destroy, the lives of the countless others with a professional connection to them. This makes 'Zodiac' as much a psychological drama (though never 'psychologizing, thankfully) as a conventional thriller. This is the second factor.

In handling the quasi-cooperative relationship between the police and the press, he brings to mind the complexity of 'The Wire', and in my mind 'Zodiac' doesn't stand much back to the instant television classic. We witness all the dead-ends, all the common distrust, and how the case as the years pass, seems to be the only thing keeping the lives of both its two main characters, Gyllenhaal and Ruffalo, together. Third, and not less importantly, they both deliver the best performances of their careers. That says a lot, particularly in Gyllenhaal's case, considering he nearly out-shined the late - and still sorely missed - Heath Ledger with his heartbreaking portrait of Jack Twist in 'Brokeback Mountain'. Hopefully, this could also be the definitive breakout performance of Ruffalo, after a long string of solid appearances haven't gained him the deserved attention. And to top it off, Downey jr. is absolutely phenomenal, as always.

Now I feel a sudden rush to watch it again. That has to be a good sign.