Film Review: Zodiac

Director: David Fincher

Released in 2007, the film is based on the real-life case of the Zodiac who was a serial killer that operated for many years in California but was never caught. Many men were accused and Arthur Leigh Allen was believed by many to be the culprit but continues to be disproven due to handwriting tests and new DNA profiling. The Zodiac became infamous for the taunting letters he wrote to local newspapers which were written in encrypted code. Allen was due to be questioned again about the murders in 2001 but died suddenly of a heart attack and it is now believed that the killer will never be caught.

Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr) and Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) at the San Francisco Chronicle

The film follows the police hunt for the serial killer but also heavily focuses on the efforts of journalist Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr) whose health suffered considerably in real-life due to his fixation with solving the case and Robert Graysmith (unconvincing performance by Jake Gyllenhaal) who was a cartoonist at the newspaper. An excellent scene is after most of the murders have been committed and the police departments all try to collaborate with each other by phone, this showed the gross incompetence of the time as each police department worked alone rather than together to catch the Zodiac.

My judging of the film is swayed because I have read a lot about the Zodiac case previously so was constantly noticing that the film wasn't that accurate in some parts. For 99% of people this wouldn't be something you'd notice but for someone hugely interesting in the topic it wa quite distracting and in many cases unnecessary as the true case facts are fascinating anyways. An article at Zodiac: Fact V Fiction discusses these differences in depth so I don't have to bore you if you aren't interested.

SFPD Inspector David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo)

The opening hour which shows re-enactments of some of the killings is very well shot and incredibly sinister which I can imagine is down to Fincher. The pace suddenly drops to dawdling pace in the second half as the Zodiac stops killing and even stops writing letters for many years whilst Graysmith, with Toschi's help, investigates the possible suspects. The finish is unsatisfying which I guess is true to life but could have been handled much better. The other key disappointment was the lack of time given to meetings between police forces and the San Francisco Chronicle about the ethics behind printing the letters which was a big part of the case in the early days; it was a huge dilemma that was disappointingly underplayed.

2/4 superb opening hour is let down by a long and slightly un-interesting second half with a lack-lustre finish.