Movie Reviews

Zodiac

This review is for David Fincher’s masterpiece Zodiac.

And I don’t throw the term “masterpiece” out like a pedophile throws candy. This movie was absolutely mesmerising from start to finish. But you must take into consideration that THIS IS NOT A SLASHER FILM. This movie is much smarter and more in depth than that. David Fincher’s vision is about details, and dates, and the people involved in solving the case and how it consumed their lives.

Jake Gyllenhaal gives the performance of his career as Robert Graysmith, a cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle who becomes obsessed with the Zodiac murders. Make all the Brokeback, cum gargling, assless chaps jokes you want, this kid has acting chops when given the right role… we saw a taste of it in Donnie Darko and got the full entree here. Gyllenhaal plays this role with a boyish charm and naivety that sucks you in and makes you care much more as you watch his slow decent into madness.

Another actor I was very surprised with was Mark Ruffalo. This was the first time I had really seen him in a meaty role (no, Just Like Heaven doesn’t fucking count) and I must admit I was impressed. Ruffalo keeps a little edge to him throughout the film, playing one the lead detectives assigned to the Zodiac case who is practically being mocked by this faceless killer, and from my knowledge of police (which is probably a little more extensive than I’d care to admit publicly) he nails it to the fucking wall.

And as always Robert Downey Jr. stole every scene he was in. He is truely one of the greatest actors of out generation in my opinion. And you can argue “it’s not hard for him to play a washed up has been alcoholic” and to those people I say there is no greater challenge as an actor then to play a former version of yourself… and fuck you for judging him. I don’t think words can adequately sum up how pitch perfect he is in this movie… so why try…

This is what I would consider a thinking man’s crime drama. Granted the movie clocks in at 157 minutes (which is 2 hours and 37 minutes for people who don’t feel like adding) so it is not for those who have short attention spans, but for me it was worth every minute and I own not only the standard release, but also the 2 disc Director’s Cut. Yes, the movie is that good.

If you’re in the mood for a well executed, very indepth crime drama than Zodiac is your movie. If you find it boring… it was probably just too intelligent for you and maybe you should go back to watching According to Jim reruns, asshat.