By Damien Wilburn
It’s common knowledge that the first rule of Fight Club is “Don’t talk about Fight Club!” This well-known tagline brings fanciful images of action and testosterone to the forefront, but that formula director David Fincher used to create that masterpiece certainly didn’t translate well when attempting to bring to life Robert Graysmith’s book “Zodiac.”
The story revolves around the serial murderer of the same name who terrorized the San Francisco area with a string of seemingly unrelated murders in the 1960s-70s. Although supposedly incredibly accurate to the real-life events upon which the book and now movie are based, the intricate plot and reasonably good acting are anchored in a cesspool of inane dialogue and meaningless dribble that inevitably ruin what could have been a great film.
The movie revolves around Robert Graysmith – the aforementioned author of the book – who is working for “The Chronicle,” a San Francisco newspaper, as a cartoonist who is enamored with puzzles. Highly reminiscent of Peter Parker, Jake Gyllenhaal plays this Toby Maguire wannabe who, despite being the lead actor and “main character,” has a relatively insignificant role until the last hour of the movie.
By this point, if you have managed to sit through the first 90 minutes, you may be slightly entertained as true thrills and suspense have managed to burrow out from underneath the landfills of bureaucratic police investigating red-tape that plagued the film until then.
Yes, it’s very much like CSI, only set well before technology provided intriguing ways to solve crimes; learning of the intricacies of handwriting analysis certainly isn’t how I like to spend my time.
Now, despite these clearly obvious problems, the movie does have some redeeming qualities. Again, the acting really isn’t that deplorable! Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo antagonize one another remarkably well, and create an interesting dynamic as Gyllenhaal attempts to befriend both. Additionally, even if it the plot does lead to many dead ends and creates frustration, the story is fairly compelling if you can stay awake throughout it.
Despite my clear criticism, this is not the worst movie I’ve seen yet this year, and I did stay mildly entertained in parts. It has some talented actors who meld well with their characters, and despite a poorly written screenplay, the cinematography and soundtrack are both top notch.
As for seeing this in theaters, I’m going to encourage you to reconsider. It would, however, make a decent DVD rental when it is released – certainly being able to pause makes a 2.5 hour movie more tolerable. On a quantified scale, I give “Zodiac” a 3 out of 5.
-Damien Wilburn
