Review: ‘Zodiac’ story is patient but gripping

Directed by: David Fincher

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Chloë Sevigny, Brian Cox, Dermot Mulroney, John Carroll Lynch

Rated: R

For those who believe in such things, there can be no doubt that the summer of 1969 was one of significant cosmic convergencies. Three of the most sensational events of the century took place in under a month.

On July 20, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the lunar service. Considering the Wright Brothers had only made their first flight 66 years earlier and the “space age” was little over 10 years old, it was an amazing feat indeed.

On Aug. 15, the hippie dream of the new “Age of Aquarius” – peace, love, understanding – began at a farm outside of Bethel, N.Y., with the three-day music festival known as Woodstock.

That this new age had been killed before it was even born became aware when hippie cult leader Charles Manson and members of his “family” were arrested for brutal slayings that had taken place on Aug. 9–10, the week before Woodstock.

Later in the year, “The San Francisco Chronicle” got its first letter from a self-professed serial killer who, though he or she remains unidentified to this day, will forever be known as “Zodiac.”

The investigation, which was officially closed in 1991, is the subject of director David Fincher’s absolutely gripping (if a bit too long for some tastes) film of the same name.

The screenplay was written by James Vanderbilt but is based on a book by a former “Chronicle” cartoonist, Robert Graysmith. Graysmith, played here by a “Hardy Boys” infused Jake Gyllenhaal, is the central character in a movie packed with great performances.

Fincher has always broached dark subjects in his films, from the wrongly maligned “Alien 3” to “Se7en” to “Fight Club.” He’s in familiar emotional territory here, but his cinematic style (usually as dark as his scripts) is somewhat brighter than usual and quite evocative of the times in which the film is set.

And while it may sound strange to say about a movie that chronicles the exploits of a gruesome serial killer, Fincher manages to insert a good deal of well-conceived humor. Robert Downey, Jr. – as “Chronicle” crime reporter Paul Avery – seems to relish in poking fun at his own well-known personal problems. He’s been in his share of trouble, and it’s not because of, but despite that, that he is really a fine actor. The sense of humor he projects just makes him all the more likable.

The film opens with a chilling murder scene, perpetrated by a masked gunman. While there aren’t a great number of these scenes in the film, and Fincher never stoops to “Saw”-type gratuitous bloodfests, the murders are very, very disturbing.

The “Chronicle” gets a letter from the professed murderer along with a cipher message that interests young Graysmith, a puzzle nut. There is quite an intense scene wherein the powers that be at the paper have to make an editorial decision about whether to meet the killer’s demands and publish the letter. Their competition has been sent the same messages and the paper has to consider maintaining its market share.

That the film’s conclusion is foregone – no one has ever been arrested and the suspect who Graysmith is convinced is Zodiac died several years ago – in no manner takes away from the impact of the story. The search for the killer takes its toll on so many lives – in addition to the murder victims themselves – that the emotional devastation is the stuff of great moviemaking.

Besides Downey and Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, as San Francisco police detective Dave Toschi, is in fine form in what appears to be a cinematic homage to Peter Falk’s quintessential character, Columbo. The real Toschi was a consultant on the movie “Bullit” and gave Steve McQueen tips on how to act like a detective.

The Zodiac killings themselves inspired the fictional “Dirty Harry” film, and Fincher manages to throw in a funny scene about that fact.

At 160 minutes, “Zodiac” requires a major time commitment from the viewer. But it never lags and there are really no superfluous scenes. Fincher has changed gears on his filmmaking style (a great idea for a director when he can pull it off) and his storytelling here is “patient” but no less gripping than his previous films.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.