David Fincher is one of those directors who rarely if ever strikes out with one of his movies. After giving us such cinematic gems like Fight Club, The Social Network, Se7en, Gone Girl, and a host of others, I think it’s safe to say anything he produces will at least be above average in quality, and that sentence reminds me that I really must get around to Gone Girl, a movie I have mostly skipped because I read the novel it’s based on and know how the story goes.
But I also hadn’t seen Fincher’s Zodiac yet, so maybe I’ll start with that one.
Opening in the summer of 1969, we follow a young couple out on a drive until they get to the local make-out spot. Everything seems to be going more or less normally, though there’s a bit of tension in the air that doesn’t quite seem to match up to the sort of tension you’d normally see at Inspiration Point. And then it happens: an unseen man, someone the couple seems to know, walks up and shoots both of them multiple times. The girl dies, the boy lives, and the killer sends a coded message to the local press. Quickly dubbed Zodiac, he’ll attack multiple victims, killing some and wounding others (and just scaring the hell out of a young woman with a baby that may or may not have met him) before, well, never really getting caught.
That’s the key here, basically. Based on a true story, the real Zodiac killer was never caught. There’s a really good suspect in the case, but what evidence is there is largely circumstantial and there are some gaps. Fincher’s movie does point at said suspect, but likewise makes it clear it may or may not be that guy.
No, instead, Fincher’s movie is less about the killer and more about the people obsessed with finding him. Set largely in the offices of the San Francisco Chronicle, the movie follows a political cartoonist, a reporter, and a cop. Cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) is clearly the most invested in the case despite having the most distance from it. Crime beat reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr) spends time acting like he’s the one, not the police, conducting the investigation. And homicide detective Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) just gets very frustrated over the red tape between different police departments that make coordinating investigations and evidence so difficult.
That’s not to say Fincher doesn’t cut out Zodiac and his crimes. In fact, those may be among the most suspenseful moments in the movie, watching victims squirm as Zodiac shows up, masked and armed, and they try different methods to escape him with varying levels of success. Instead, we follow the three men who all suffer personal and professional setbacks due to the unsolved case. Toschi gets a reprimand when a Zodiac letter turns up and his colleagues think incorrectly that he forged it years after the last one arrived. Avery’s life spirals down a toilet until he has no more interest in the case. Most notably is Graysmith. We see him go on a first date with a future wife who is initially excited to follow up on Graysmith’s investigation in the middle of the date, but then as the movie flashes forward multiple years, we see her leaving him because of that self-same obsession.
The only real satisfaction for these characters is finding some measure of peace with the idea that they may never find Zodiac. Even a late movie series of clues that perhaps sets the last hold-out’s mind at ease has more than a few holes in it. But clearly, the hunt for this brutal killer was not doing any of these men any favors. Given my favorite movie of all time is an unsolved murder mystery, I don’t mind a plot that doesn’t catch a killer. And while Zodiac is far from Fincher’s best, it’s still head and shoulders above a lot of work directors’ work. Maybe I should read up on this case or finally see Gone Girl. Regardless, there’s something to be said when interest turns into unhealthy obsession.
Grade: B+
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