The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

David Fincher departs from the gore and shock of Seven and moves to the more dialogue-driven but still gripping story that is Zodiac, a roughly 2 hour and 45 minute feature about the real life story of the search for the serial killer known as the Zodiac. Communicating to newspapers and police precints using a crosshair as his signature, he demands his letters be published and reveals details of the murders only the true killer would know.

The events take place in the late 60s through the 70s in northern California, and Fincher's attention to detail to have the feel of the era come across on the screen is flawless. The audience is educated on the difficulty of co-ordinating efforts of different police forces: a simple task such as exchanging photographs of crime scenes ("Do you have a telefax? No, we don't. How about mail? Ok, you should get it sometime next week...) demonstrates how difficult it was to obtain leads, evidence and draw connections to each crime.

The cast is excellent, working with a well-written script that is perhaps packed with too many facts that causes it to slow down towards the ending. Still, Robert Downey Jr. as the journalist Paul Avery who was threatened by Zodiac, Jake Gyllenhaal as the cartoonist (yes, cartoonist) obessessed with finding the identity of Zodiac, and Mark Ruffalo as the lead detective in the killings stood out as my favourites among many.

I did get the feeling some of the audience, particularly the teenager/early 20s crowd, was perhaps getting a bit restless and was looking for more thrills that a movie such as Silence of the Lambs may provide. The opening sequences depict the first murder of a teenage couple parked in a secluded laneway certainly do grab your attention, as does the stabbings of another couple enjoying some time alone near a lake. While otherwise it may be lacking somewhat in the thrills department, knowing that we were witnessing a true life event made it more engaging for me, more than seeing blood could do. There's something about a movie that's depiciting real life events, knowing that what took place on screen actually happened, captivates me more. Especially, as with Zodiac, when it is well done.