Somebodyisfromhere.com takes a look at ZODIAC
March 2007
The trend in movies these days is to make something as disgusting,
brutal, and twisted as possible under the pretense it’s entertaining. It
must work too because things keep getting made that way. These are
the type of movie trailers that theaters are showing before Zodiac, but
there is no mistaking, Zodiac is far from this kind of fare.
Zodiac is the latest addition to director David Fincher’s flawless
repertoire. Fincher is no stranger to dark psychological movies. In
fact, he redefined the cop genre with Se7en. He is also the only
director who continually uses a frenetic pace to enhance a movie as
opposed of getting in the way of it. This is how he made Panic Room
entertaining despite only one substantial setting and made Fight Club
a movie that defined a generation (falling short of that, it at least made
soap kinda cool).
In Zodiac Fincher combines the two, constructing a film that at 2 ½
hours is closer to epic than showpiece. There are only two scenes
that make the viewer feel that they are not in the midst of the action
taking place. There is an extraordinary shot of a foggy Golden Gate
Bridge from the top looking down on the traffic. There is also a
beautiful shot showing the passage of time as the Transamerica
Pyramid gets built. Though different from the rest of the movie, these
scenes are necessary. They show the uniqueness that is San
Francisco of the era and even today. Beyond that, they allow the
viewer to take a breadth.
The reason for this straight forward approach is respect. It is
apparent the movie did not wish to trivialize the victims. In so doing, it
also does not glorify the killer. It’s not even really about him.
There is one point of the movie where a woman says to Jake
Gyllenhaal’s Robert Graysmith, “You have the look.” Essentially,
Zodiac is about people who have “the look.” The look in question is
that of the obsessed and there are three such men in movie.
Mark Ruffalo is the least acclaimed of the three actors in pivotal roles,
but is the most enjoyable to watch. He plays Inspector David Toschi.
Toschi evidently was on whom Steve McQueen based Lt. Frank
Bullitt. The cop with an eye on Hollywood has been done before in
movies like L.A. Confidential (Kevin Spacey) and 15 Minutes (Robert
DeNiro), but Ruffalo’s Toschi is interesting because it's real and he
never boasts about it. Only the occasional turtleneck hints at the
collaboration. Ruffalo is engaging because he shows why somebody
would want to emulate Toschi. Toschi is a hard worker who likes his
profession (almost as much as he likes Animal Crackers).
Robert Downey Jr. is Paul Avery who as the murders take place is a
successful crime writer for the San Francisco Chronicle who splits his
time working and drinking and who remains popular amongst his
colleagues and himself until he does a little too much of each.
Gyllenhaal’s Graysmith wrote the books of which this movie was
based. Graysmith and Avery worked together at the Chronicle.
Graysmith’s inclusion in the investigation was less job description and
more rampant curiosity as he was the political cartoonist a few desks
down from Avery. He first took interest in the Zodiac killer’s ciphers
written to the newspaper and his interest grew from there.
With so many intelligent people involved what went wrong? Exactly
that. The murders took place in different jurisdictions. There were too
many people calling the tip hotline. The general public at times knew
as much as anybody as the Zodiac’s letters were often published. It
wasn’t anybody’s fault, but was also why an outsider like Graysmith
was able to have the most luck.
Zodiac works on several different levels. It’s informative. It’s nostalgic
for the era of Bullitt and alike. It channels All the President’s Men.
And it shows some of the best current talent out there in Fincher,
Ruffalo, Downey Jr., and Gyllenhaal at the top of their collective game.
March 2007
The trend in movies these days is to make something as disgusting,
brutal, and twisted as possible under the pretense it’s entertaining. It
must work too because things keep getting made that way. These are
the type of movie trailers that theaters are showing before Zodiac, but
there is no mistaking, Zodiac is far from this kind of fare.
Zodiac is the latest addition to director David Fincher’s flawless
repertoire. Fincher is no stranger to dark psychological movies. In
fact, he redefined the cop genre with Se7en. He is also the only
director who continually uses a frenetic pace to enhance a movie as
opposed of getting in the way of it. This is how he made Panic Room
entertaining despite only one substantial setting and made Fight Club
a movie that defined a generation (falling short of that, it at least made
soap kinda cool).
In Zodiac Fincher combines the two, constructing a film that at 2 ½
hours is closer to epic than showpiece. There are only two scenes
that make the viewer feel that they are not in the midst of the action
taking place. There is an extraordinary shot of a foggy Golden Gate
Bridge from the top looking down on the traffic. There is also a
beautiful shot showing the passage of time as the Transamerica
Pyramid gets built. Though different from the rest of the movie, these
scenes are necessary. They show the uniqueness that is San
Francisco of the era and even today. Beyond that, they allow the
viewer to take a breadth.
The reason for this straight forward approach is respect. It is
apparent the movie did not wish to trivialize the victims. In so doing, it
also does not glorify the killer. It’s not even really about him.
There is one point of the movie where a woman says to Jake
Gyllenhaal’s Robert Graysmith, “You have the look.” Essentially,
Zodiac is about people who have “the look.” The look in question is
that of the obsessed and there are three such men in movie.
Mark Ruffalo is the least acclaimed of the three actors in pivotal roles,
but is the most enjoyable to watch. He plays Inspector David Toschi.
Toschi evidently was on whom Steve McQueen based Lt. Frank
Bullitt. The cop with an eye on Hollywood has been done before in
movies like L.A. Confidential (Kevin Spacey) and 15 Minutes (Robert
DeNiro), but Ruffalo’s Toschi is interesting because it's real and he
never boasts about it. Only the occasional turtleneck hints at the
collaboration. Ruffalo is engaging because he shows why somebody
would want to emulate Toschi. Toschi is a hard worker who likes his
profession (almost as much as he likes Animal Crackers).
Robert Downey Jr. is Paul Avery who as the murders take place is a
successful crime writer for the San Francisco Chronicle who splits his
time working and drinking and who remains popular amongst his
colleagues and himself until he does a little too much of each.
Gyllenhaal’s Graysmith wrote the books of which this movie was
based. Graysmith and Avery worked together at the Chronicle.
Graysmith’s inclusion in the investigation was less job description and
more rampant curiosity as he was the political cartoonist a few desks
down from Avery. He first took interest in the Zodiac killer’s ciphers
written to the newspaper and his interest grew from there.
With so many intelligent people involved what went wrong? Exactly
that. The murders took place in different jurisdictions. There were too
many people calling the tip hotline. The general public at times knew
as much as anybody as the Zodiac’s letters were often published. It
wasn’t anybody’s fault, but was also why an outsider like Graysmith
was able to have the most luck.
Zodiac works on several different levels. It’s informative. It’s nostalgic
for the era of Bullitt and alike. It channels All the President’s Men.
And it shows some of the best current talent out there in Fincher,
Ruffalo, Downey Jr., and Gyllenhaal at the top of their collective game.
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