Zodiac

As I explained in a recent post, my early year attendance at movies has been "challenged" by some dull offers that I don't really care to see. 

I'm becoming more careful with my time, specifically around which movies I see, and I know I have a backlog of greats that deserve my attention too. 

Hence this Retro Review for one that I've had on my list for a few years now: Zodiac.  

Zodiac seems to be a film that comes highly referred and regarded by nearly anyone I interact with who has seen it. Digging a little deeper, it's easy to see why. 

David Fincher is directing. It stars Downey Jr., Gyllenhaal, and Ruffalo. And it tells the ever-twisting and intriguing story of the Zodiac killer whom terrorized a large swath of California for over a decade. 

What's not to be intrigued by? 

Checking out Zodiac is a no-brainer, but I've always struggled to accommodate its almost 3-hour runtime. Considering that my reviews usually take about 60 minutes to produce, that's a 4 hour commitment overall and one that I struggled to find time for in recent years. That is until we got to the barren, desolate offerings of early this year. So I figured to flat-out skip the theaters one weekend and instead finally set aside time for Zodiac. 

And boy am I glad I did.

Zodiac is indeed a very long film, and it feels like one too. That's not necessarily a complaint but rather me providing some context for what you may be getting into. A comparison I kept coming back to is that it felt like an expedited, very well done Netflix series. It's paced superbly -- I never really considered it "slow" -- and has clear separations between time periods in the story. I can't quite remember what the final span of time it covers is, but it's definitely several decades with the film focusing its time during the height of the Zodiac killings and several years after. I do find its ending a tad unsatisfactory and almost rushed, but besides that, Zodiac is a masterclass in logical storytelling and taking a lengthy, complex story and putting it into an understandable and captivating film. Credit here goes to Fincher and his team in addition to the great writing. Fincher is one of the best when it comes to presenting a complex story and it helps because of his natural directorial style, a straight forward script, and strong editing.

Nope. Not a creepy scene. Not at all.

"Look, Tony. I already told you.
I'm ALWAYS angry."
"Yeah, yeah ok ya giant brussel sprout."

What also helps is that the story is shockingly true and consistently captivating with a slew of twists, turns, dead-ends, and added mysteries to the infamous Zodiac killer. It's quite something for a nearly 3 hour film to be exciting, but Zodiac manages to stay that way because of its TRUE details and unbelievable outcomes. The fact that someone was, at some point, in essentially modern day San Francisco, able to get away with this is borderline mind-blowing. Add on the attempt to get in the mind of a killer and the added mystery from the coded messages that are sent and you get an intricate web that's weaved. 

To have a story this naturally great is one thing. To add in someone who can tell it in a compelling way is another. Then to have heavy-hitting actors like Robert Downey Jr. Mark Ruffalo, and Jake Gyllenhaal and you're easily approaching an all-time classic. Gyllenhaal gets most of the heavy lifting here as he's the main character and he's as compelling as ever -- slowly becoming more and more obsessed with finding out who the Zodiac killer is, despite the fact that he's not a cop or detective. Ruffalo is probably the second-place MVP with one of his more impressive turns as an actual detective that tries his hardest to catch the killer. Downey Jr. as a reporter is a Tony-Stark-esque character (aren't all of his?) who's entertaining and also plays a pivotal role. The remaining cast has some famous faces and holds their own against the main three; no one feels like a weak-link at all.

"Gyllenhaal, how have you avoided being a superhero so far?"
"I've got feminine hands..."

Zodiac is an easy film to review -- resulting in a bit of a shorter review -- because it's such an easy recommendation. In the day and age of Netflix binging, this is an easy sell as a shortened season of a  Netflix-original-crime-drama-thats-not-really-a-TV-series. Sure it's long, but it'll hold your attention, especially when you consider that it's a true story, because of the talent behind the camera and in front of it.

CONS

• I wish the ending had been a little more satisfying and they would have taken as much time with finishing it all out as they did setting it all up

PROS

• Unbelievable story of a real-life string of murders, potential killer, and sequence of coded messages. Supremely creepy but utterly watchable
• Fincher is the master of organization and presentation of his stories. Zodiac may be the best example of that for him
• Great script for all characters
• Technically well made. Original score is good, editing is fantastic, cinematography is strong, and the time-era costumes/setting is well captured
• Impressive, fun, and talented cast where everyone brings their A game. Gyllenhaal is the MVP
• A long crime drama movie but a condensed crime drama TV series -- hitting a sweet spot and being the best of both

Retro Rath's Review Score | 9.5/10