Sign of the times

ZODIAC

( WARNING : SPOILERS )

I’m a HUGE fan of David Finchers work and hes made us wait five long years for his new movie (his last being Panic Room, which I loved). Zodiac is the story of a serial killer who terrorised the west coast of America during the 70s. This film spans whole decades and focuses on the men who became obsessed with catching the killer (the Zodiac of the title).

The film was, for me at least, a huge let down. It possessed none of the usual visual flair that makes Finchers movies so unique and interesting to watch (or perhaps they were so subtle that I didn’t even notice them!). While it felt nowhere near its three-hour running time, it plodded along at weary pace and bored me to the point of distraction. The story was a non-event and often felt like we were treading over the same points again and again. I was never quite sure of the tone of the movie either, as some parts felt quite unbalanced. The only thing I found interesting was in seeing how the progression through time was handled, with the subtle changes in costumes, cars, technology etc.

Hardly any of the characters were engaging (Mark Ruffalos in particular lacked any kind of depth), although I enjoyed Anthony Edwards performance (despite his painfully obvious wig :P ). And I’m tired of watching Robert Downey Jr. (an actor whom I’ve always respected) play the role of a drug and alcohol abuser, as it’s hardly a stretch for him at this point!

The motivation behind Jake Gyllenhaals character to try and catch the Zodiac seemed completely bizarre and was never sufficiently explained. Why would a cartoonist take up the job of hunting down a serial killer? Another niggling point (and maybe this was just me) was that it was hard to take him seriously as the father of two kids, considering how young he looked (he also seemed able to avoid the affects of aging as the film went on :P )

The most maddening thing was the lack of a proper conclusion. I understand that the story is based on real life, and as such it’s hard to wrap up everything in time for the credits, but why should we leave the cinema feeling as frustrated and unsatisfied as the men on the Zodiac case? *sigh*