A 22-Year Quest to Uncover the Identity of a Serial Killer
Based on Robert Graysmith's true crime books Zodiac and Zodiac Unmasked, the movie Zodiac (2007) stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. The film's main character is a fictionalized version of Graysmith, played by Gyllenhaal. Ruffalo portrays legendary San Francisco policeman Dave Toschi, who inspired Steve McQueen's character in Bullitt (1968) and Clint Eastwood's character in Dirty Harry (1971). Downey plays Paul Avery, a crime reporter for northern California's top newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle.
The early part of the movie takes place in 1969 when a series of murders are committed by a man known as the Zodiac. But the film is only peripherally about the killer and his victims — the focus is on the people trying to crack the case. There isn't much action or suspense: the movie is basically a detail-oriented, dialogue-driven procedural.
The film is straightforward visually, but it sustains a noirish atmosphere and has an authentic period feel. The soundtrack enriches the texture through the use of old songs, such as Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy Man."
Zodiac tells a long, intricate, sprawling, messy story that requires patience on the part of the viewer. The tale finally comes to a low-keyed ending in 1991, but those who demand tidiness and complete closure may not be satisfied. However, for many of us, the movie is a multifaceted case study that is absorbing.
Top-Notch Acting by a Large Cast
In 1969 a man calling himself the Zodiac commits a series of murders in northern California and mails evidence about them to the San Francisco Chronicle. Working at that newspaper is an editorial cartoonist named Robert Graysmith (Gyllenhaal), and although his job is lampooning politicians, he's fascinated by the serial killings and learns everything he can about them. Eventually his interest turns into obsession, and as the movie winds down, we see in a 1991 scene that Graysmith has written a bestselling book titled Zodiac.
One of the Zodiac's victims is a taxi driver shot to death on a quiet San Francisco street, bringing veteran SFPD homicide investigators Dave Toschi (Ruffalo) and Bill Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) into the case. Through dogged police work, they develop circumstantial evidence pointing to a pedophile named Arthur Leigh Allen (John Carroll Lynch), but a handwriting expert (Philip Baker Hall) rules him out.
After Graysmith and Toschi, the third most important character in the film is Paul Avery (Downey), a heavy-drinking, flamboyant crime reporter at the Chronicle. But Avery sometimes makes worthwhile observations, such as noting that the killer took his signature symbol from the logo on the Zodiac brand of wristwatches.
All the actors named above are excellent in their roles, and there are other noteworthy performances as well. Brian Cox is good as attorney Melvin Belli, who used to be on TV frequently, including appearing on Star Trek. Also, Chloë Sevigny is right as the woman who has a strange date with Graysmith and ends up marrying him.
It's the Specifics That Get Your Attention
Although there's not much violence in Zodiac, director David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, Panic Room) included a few spine-chilling sequences. One of these is a woman being stabbed to death at idyllic Lake Berryessa, another is the abduction of a woman and her baby on a lonely highway and a third is when Graysmith goes down into a spooky basement with a creepy guy.
But what sets Zodiac apart from other docudramas is the richness of detail. For example, there's the weird-looking cipher the Zodiac sends to the newspapers that baffles the CIA, the FBI and Naval Intelligence, but is decoded by a married couple in Salinas, California. That cipher apparently alludes to a 1924 short story by Richard Connell titled "The Most Dangerous Game" or to a 1932 RKO film adaptation of Connell's story. Also, there's the blue alcoholic beverage that Graysmith drinks which he calls an Aqua Velva. And finally, there's the moment in 1983 when Graysmith walks into a hardware store in Vallejo, California, and locks eyes with the man he believes to be the Zodiac.
DVD Details
The Zodiac DVD being reviewed here is a single-disc edition providing no bonus materials. However, information on this DVD states that in 2008 there will be a two-disc edition containing a director's cut of the feature film, audio commentary by the director and others, extensive behind-the-scenes supplements covering nearly every aspect of the making of the movie, an in-depth examination of the Zodiac's actual crimes, and interviews with the original investigators, survivors and informants. Listed below are the details for the barebones DVD edition of Zodiac.
Release Date: July 24, 2007
Feature Film Run Time: 2 hours 37 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for Some Strong Killings, Language, Drug Material and Brief Sexual Images
Widescreen (2.35:1), Color
English 5.1 Dolby Digital
French 5.1 Dolby Digital
English Captions for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Spanish Subtitles
