Rating of
3/4
Zodiac Kills!
Alex - wrote on 03/23/07
David Fincher, known for his visual style, graphic violence, special effects, and psychological thrillers, does an excellent job in directing the first great movie of the year.
The audience is sucked into the movie by a series of killings that are violent and random. By the third act, the killing stops and we are left with a "Law and Order" type mystery in a "who done it" (although much better told and acted than any TV Show could ever do). Gyellenhaul does a good job playing Graysmith, the obsessed cartoonist, and Downey Jr. is perfect in his role of the editorial editor for the S.F. Chronicle. That said, the acting is great.
The thing I was most disappointed in was Fincher. Having directed 2 of what I think are the best movies of all time, this movie was completely not there. Yeah, it was kind of stylish at times, and visual at others, but there was nothing in the story telling that put it up there with "Fight Club" or "Seven." Don't get me wrong it was a 3.5 star movie. I was expecting to see another movie added to my top list.
There were a lot of great things about this movie besides the acting and the story - such as the flow of the movie and the feeling we get for the San Fransisco people.
My wife trying to sit through the movie makes me aware of the length. At close to 3 hours, one can get annoyed by Graysmith continuously going over and over the facts. Fincher may have been able to cut it down by 10-15 minutes, but if you have the patience for movies, then length will not matter.
As I said, the best movie of 2007 and could impress come Oscar time...if they plan the DVD release right.
