A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: Zodiac

Date Viewed: 3/25/07

Details:

Jake Gyllenhaal (Robert Graysmith)

Mark Ruffalo

Anthony Edwards

Robert Downey Jr.

Brian Cox

John Carroll Lynch

Chloë Sevigny

Philip Baker Hall

Director: David Fincher

Score: 3/4

The Review: A detective mystery formed from the investigative books by Robert Graysmith detailing the "Zodiac" murders that occurred in central California during the 1970's. Graysmith (played by Gyllenhaal in the film) was a reporter initially attracted to the investigation by some of the cryptographic puzzles sent by the killer to the news media; his interest became obsession and rapidly took over his life, both professional and personal. Ruffalo plays the primary police investigator across the many years of detective work; Downey Jr is one of Graysmith's fellow reporters, engagingly erratic -- a druggie who eventually disappeared from the scene, but not before transferring some of his intensity to Graysmith. Officially, a murderer was never convicted, which makes it sound as if they were never solved, but Graysmith's books and the movie have a more "complete" story to tell.

A slight ding in the otherwise solid "+" rating comes solely because the film is overly long and possibly in need of tighter editing. In its own support, however, the timeframe that the movie tries to cover really is daunting -- not that you (as the naïve audience) know that up front.

We saw this via a digital projection (DLP) system: it was sharp, well-maintained, and Canadian shield solid -- everything a movie experience should be. Would that more theatres took such care with their equipment.

(15-Apr-07)

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