Zodiac (R)
"What's your sign?"
Chronicling the real life crimes, and ensuing panic and decades long manhunt, of Northern California's famous 1970s serial killer, the Zodiac. A true crime police procedural and slice of life investigation, Zodiac is the most entertaining and realistic serial killer thriller ever made, especially considering the anti-bombastic nature of the crimes and the unsenstionalized nature of the film.
The visuals are pristine, yellowed like vintage Polaroids. Time passes unerringly, the Transamerica Pyramid is built, tastes in music changes; the film is a reconstruction of the life and times of another time steeped in classic Bay Area lore. The crime scenes and events are meticulously recreated, almost obsessively so (much like many of the investigators inside the real story). This is a credit to Director Fincher (Fight Club), who is obviously very interested in the subject matter that wracked his own actual NorCal childhood. Using Robert Graysmith's book (portrayed by Donnie Darko's Jake Gyllenhall) as a template, Fincher and company re-investigated all they could, made former victims into film consultants and put it all into a thrilling script with a chillingly real motif. Some may nitpick small details, quibble left out information (the internet has been obsessing about Z since before it's invention), but the film captures the paranoia filled frustration of the real case wonderfully. The killings aren't glamorized or action-movied, the investigation is years long and complicated with many red herrings and suspects. The audio and soundtrack drive the tension to great lengths, you'll never hear Donovan the same way again. The cast is strong from all angles, with even the voice of Roger Rabbit, Charles Fliescher, lending to the creep factor at a critical moment.
Zodiac's nostalgic visuals and fantastic cast of grounded actors and characters shine into the murky morass of this modern mystery like a Maglite full of Evereadys. What it's beam falls on is illuminated in srark relief, but it leaves just as much lost to the outlying shadows, forever in the dark.
9 Well, Do Ya, Punk!? out of 10 (OUTSTANDING)
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