Zodiac

The Zodiac killer was one of the most infamous unsolved murder investigations in America’s history and though not mentioned in more recent years, unfortunately left an imprint on the country for his murders throughout the 1960s and 70s, as well as the twisted cat and mouse routine he played with the investigators by leaving clues and deciphers for them to solve. With an event such as this, it was fated that it would lead way to a film version one day, and in 2007, director David Fincher released a film that chronicled these events. In 1969 California, the San Francisco Chronicle receives some disturbing encrypted messages coming from an elusive figure who simply goes by ‘the Zodiac’ who claims to have recently killed someone, hopes to kill again and is taunting the Newspaper to publish his messages in order to save lives, as well as the police to try and track him down. Inspector David Toschi (played by Mark Ruffalo) leads the investigation on trying to track down the culprit responsible, while back at the Chronicle, crime reporter Paul Avery (played by Robert Downey Junior) eventually finds himself working with political cartoonist Robert Graysmith (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) whose extensive puzzle solving skills and intrigue in the case has spurred him into trying to decipher these messages and figure out the true identity behind these killings. This results in a wild goose chase spanning several years, with each passing year showing no results, convincing more people to try and solve it. After a few years of silence, Graysmith still seems to be the only one searching for the Zodiac, but he might have found his target and that might cost him his life. Based on the non-fiction books, Zodiac and Zodiac Unmasked, written by the real Robert Graysmith, Zodiac is a well-constructed movie with tight directing, decent acting, and a well-researched and historically accurate set of events to provide an insight into this scary period of history.

A movie about a real set of murders needs to be handled with not only a sense of taste (as anything less could come across as disingenuous or even disrespectful to those affected by the events), but also with a grounded sense of authenticity, because this movie needs to portray real evidence in a manner that feels realistic so that people believe what the film is delivering to them. This was an element that the director, David Fincher, the writer, James Vanderbilt, and producer Bradley J. Fischer understood, as they went into this project with a clear understanding and intrigue surrounding the events and wanted to create a film version that captured the realistic speculation and unresolved conclusion of the case, as well as the enduring mythic stature of the figure and why he was so difficult to apprehend. Fincher’s directing really shines in this project, with previous works of his like Se7en and Fight Club enabling him to capture this methodical and procedural atmosphere without feeling overly dreary or dull. The movie thankfully keeps most of the intrigue present throughout its gargantuan running time of almost three-hours due to its fast pacing, constantly evolving turn of events, and snappy dialogue. It’s not a movie that has a lot going on in it outside of constant expositional talking and investigative situations, but that’s an element that feels pretty authentic to the real case as this movie was given credit for how closely it kept to the real murders and procedural events around said cases. It is unfortunately quite a long film, but the movie’s clever enough to split the film into two different perspectives which have two different narrative directions; with the first half focusing on the ongoing murders and trying to prevent the killer’s attempts, and the second half focusing on trying to pick up the pieces now that he’s gone dormant. Both bring something new to the table and both have merit in what they have to offer. The atmosphere and America’s response to the Zodiac are also interesting insights into not only the time period’s mindset and how easily they were connecting him with their own biases (usually blaming anyone within a minority at the time), the newspaper’s balance between ignoring his messages and losing potential headlines, or publishing his messages for publicity with the knowledge that they’re giving a psychopath a voice, and even questioning how much of what this supposed voice on the phone is actually truthful and whether or not he’s the actual monster or if he’s taking credit for someone else’s horrors, its clever to blend the cases ambiguity in a way that doesn’t feel insensitive or false.

The subject of tone leading to elements feeling more fabricated than others is an issue that comes in regard to the film’s characters, or rather in its acting. Zodiac uses real names involved in the real case for its film, and there’s isn’t much of a debate whether or not most of these events occurred as not only do the real events match those portrayed in the movie, but those who either participated or survived the Zodiac’s murders were mostly involved in the production of this film (namely David Toschi). So, the problem isn’t in what they are portraying, but rather how these people are being portrayed. The acting from everybody is perfectly solid, but certain faces in this film feel more fabricated and more streamlined into such a cartoonish angle that it’s hard to pin down whether they are real people or just fabrications made for the film. Jake Gyllenhaal doesn’t feel like a real person because not only is there practically nothing explored about him as a person outside of having a family, but even his dialogue and personality feel so constructed that it’s weird to imagine this as a real person who was crucial to continuing the investigation. Robert Downey Junior is also playing his role so closely to himself that it’s hard to gage whether the real person is just exactly like the actor, or if it’s a failed performance that’s not getting across the person’s true identity. Outside of that however, the rest of the cast do a decent job portraying these roles; Mark Ruffalo is perfectly believable as this detective whose reaching his limit, Brian Cox has a fun cameo as a lawyer wishing to assist in the case and even help the supposed Zodiac by reaching out through interviews and exposing himself in order to get this sick man help, there’s a pretty well done scene with John Carroll Lynch where it’s hard to gage whether or not this man is the one they’re looking for or not, each voice who portrays the Zodiac (those being Richmond Arquette, Bob Stephenson and John Lacy) has an appropriate deadpan delivery that comes across as unhinged and disturbed but still dangerously sophisticated without going too cartoonish, and several other famous names like Anthony Edwards, Elias Koteas, Donal Logue and Dermot Mulroney may not leave the biggest impression due to their limited screen time, but they work well enough in here as well.

The movie adopts a cold, musty darkly lit atmosphere during most of its outside sequences which manages to produce an almost film-noir type of style and tone in certain instances, which does come with its own pros and cons. The film’s odd yellow color undertone during some of the night sections gives the movie the feeling of being in an older era, helping to make it feel like it’s actually taking place within 1960s -1970s California through the production design by Donald Graham Burt and various other visual technicals alone. With a movie like Se7en, those film’s visuals, tone and story structure were laced with elements of cinematic flair, but at the centre was still a deeply bleak, sour, and uncomfortably real atmosphere that balanced itself out to create the best of both worlds. Within this movie however, these two elements don’t always mix and because of the film’s ties to a real murder, these cinematic aspects can feel disruptive and even ill-fitting in certain places. When the movie tries to portrayal a murder sequence, it manages to pull them off most effectively when it stays quiet and really captures the real sense of uncertainty and quiet horror, but whenever it gets to the kills, the overly pronounced acting, bizarre choice of music, and weird camera angles and slow-motion make it comes across more like a Tarantino flick, it doesn’t mesh with the real crime thriller angle the movie should be going for and it leaves these scenes not only feeling repetitive and dull, but also tonally messy and nowhere near as intense as they should be (a scene with a couple being tied up before being stabbed to death should not feature comedic banter). The music is definitely out of place in this film, which makes a lot more sense when it’s revealed that the movie was never meant to have a score, only featuring one in scenes where it felt too silent. On its own, the piano score by David Shire is honestly perfectly good and would work in a movie that had a more film-noir atmosphere to it, but in this realistic situation, it doesn’t match.

Zodiac does a good job detailing out the information of such an event in a genuine manner, while still feeling like it’s a movie with its own tropes that don’t clash with what they’re trying to portray. There are certain cinematic elements like the soundtrack and odd characterizations that give it a manufactured touch, but overall, the writing, directing, and pacing work well together and keep you engaged for its long running time. It’s not going to be for everybody and if these type of real-life crime thrillers aren’t for you, this one won’t sway you, but if you are, this is a pretty solid one to check out. Fincher’s other work might be a bit stronger and more palpable for casual audiences, but otherwise, this Zodiac is a mystery worth watching to see how it pans out.