Zodiac

Director:David Fincher
RT Score: 90%
2007

While looking up the score for Zodiac I decided to check out some of the reviews and found a negative one that stated 'without a persuasive ending, Zodiac is an exercise in frustration.' I singled on this one statement because that is exactly what makes this film so brilliant.
Starting in the 1970's, Zodiac chronicles the real life investigation and media coverage of the Zodiac murders in the San Francisco area. They start out with the Zodiac stalking young couples, murdering them and reporting the murder himself. He then begins playing games with the local media by coercing them into printing codes in the newspaper or risk having him go on a killing spree.
The first hour or so of the film follows this pattern and Fincher is able to craft this serial killer with film with just as much tension as Se7en but far less shock and gore. Instead the tension is created by the moral questions that come from having to decide whether or not to play along with a mad man's mind games in public forum such as the newspaper or on television. By the end of the first hour you can feel the same grip of terror that anyone living in San Francisco at this time would have felt.
But then reality sets in. You see, in reality the Zodiac was never caught and to his never ending credit Fincher never even toys with idea of changing that fact. And that is how the film moves from routine serial killer thriller to brilliant nerve shattering drama. We follow 3 characters all of whom approach the Zodiac from a different perspective.
First up is Paul Avery played by Robert Downey Jr. You can insert your own jokes about what a stretch it is to see Downey play a talented person who is eventually brought down by substance abuse, but the reality is that Downey owns the screen any time he is on it and is able to provide his characteristic dry sense of humor to the role as the brash journalist looking to make his mark while reporting on these killings.
Then there is inspector David Toschi played by Mark Ruffalo who is assigned to the Zodiac killings with his partner Dr. Green/Anthony Edwards. The two have great chemistry together while sparring us any buddy cop angst. Ruffalo plays the role straight and even offers the juxtaposition that he is not Dirty Harry.  We see Ruffalo think he gets his man and then watch his frustration when they refuse to charge him. After that the case weighs on him and seemingly takes away his passion for the job. Watching this again I find myself wondering why Ruffalo isn't ranked as highly among actors today as his Avengers counterpart Downey. Ruffalo is great in this, was great in Shutter Island, Eternal Sunshine, Avengers, etc.
Finally, the films central character is Robert Graysmith played Jake Gyllenhaal. Graysmith is a cartoonist at the newspaper who gets caught up in the Zodiac case. The character is essentially charged with giving us an every man perspective on the case. He longs to help in anyway we can and we can see the impact the Zodiac has on the city through Graysmith. But his desire to help turns into his obsession as Graysmith seemingly becomes Zodiac's final victim when his desire for the truth leads him on his own investigation which he intends to use to write a book on the subject. Graysmith digs deeper than anyone else and eventually alienates his family in his pursuit of the truth. In this pursuit Gyllenhaal is phenomenal as he plays Graysmith as a simple, uncomplicated newspaper artist. He is funny without being comical and serious without seeming strong. It's his performance that carries the movie and keeps us interested in Graysmiths discoveries even as we know there can not be any true climax.
The cast is tremendous, but with this being a Fincher film I have to acknowledge that it is Fincher's commitment to his craft that truly makes everything work. Telling a two and a half hour story that is incapable of providing a satisfactory ending is no small task and yet Fincher accomplishes this feat almost effortlessly. If that's not impressive enough, Fincher even avoids the typical serial killer cliches of gruesome murders and blood stained corpses as even the violence in the film is subdued (at least by Fincher standards). As it stands I would probably place Fincher among my top 5 favorite directors of all time and watching this again I am reminded of why he belongs in that classification. I will resist calling this his best film only because I know I feel that way at the end of Se7en or Fight Club or Social Network. Still, the film stands along side films like The Assassination of Jesse James as a purely director driven piece of story telling. It is uncompromising, unwilling to throw the audience a bone or a cheap thrill. Instead, Fincher knows exactly what he wants out of the film and delivers it brilliant fashion reminding us of what can happen when genius is left unobstructed.