Zodiac

I’ve liked this movie more than most ever since it came out and with this last viewing I’m ready to call it a masterpiece.  I greatly appreciate that David Fincher and co told the straight up story of the Zodiac killings without throwing in unnecessary subplots or taking creative license with the case.  Ok, there are maybe like two subplots but they’re so brief it doesn’t even matter. 

This is a dense fucking film and they did a fantastic job cramming in twenty plus years of police work.  You can’t just watch this one casually.  You have to be engaged for the entire run and even then it’s hard to keep up.  Most likely you’ll have to see this multiple times to get ahold of all the names and places that are constantly being spewed out.  That could’ve been a serious negative (and a lot of folks definitely see it that way) but in this instance there’s simply a shitload of info that all applies.  You gotta find a way to stick it all in there.

There’s an argument to be made that this should’ve been a documentary but I really dig the few movies that sort of combine narrative and documentary.  For example Spotlight is another one that doesn’t fuck around and presents the straight up investigative work without getting bogged down in clichéd Hollywood crap.  This style works and more pictures should be made like that.  The story is interesting and exciting enough that you don’t need to add contrived extra components.

And in terms of cinematics Fincher crafted some excellent horror moments.  I’m not sure how intentional that was though because I think everyone would classify this as a thriller and not a horror film.  But that scene when Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal (Prisoners)) visits the guy who ran the movie house and he thinks he hears something moving around upstairs when they’re in the basement is creepy as a sonuvabitch.  There’s also the part when the Zodiac sabotages a lady’s car and then gives her a lift and tells her that right before he kills her he’s gonna throw her baby out the window.  Or even when the psychotic bastard ties up this innocent couple and stabs them in their backs repeatedly is goddamn terrifying.

By no means is this picture for everyone.  In fact it will probably only appeal to a small group that are both interested in the Zodiac case and not mind the rapid fire unleashing of mountains of evidence and findings.  And you also have to be ok with the fact that these murders were never solved and the movie leaves it that way.

There’s something about these huge crazy unsolved cases like Jack the Ripper, the Black Dahlia and the Bordens that continue to captivate.  And so far Zodiac is the best picture I’ve seen that showcases a high profile case like that.