Based on the real life story, and using masses of information available from the case files, David Finchers Zodiac, is a tantalising tale of a real life ‘unsolved’ serial killer thriller. Indeed the tagline for the movie ‘There’s more than one way to lose your life to a killer’ is a broad hint as to what is to come.

The movie based on the factual book by Robert Graysmith, is not so much concerned with the acts themselves, more with the efforts expended by three men in trying to identify the killer, Graysmith himself, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, David Toshi (Mark Ruffalo) and Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jnr). We open with the first killings and the realisation that there is to be no rush in terms of timelines, because the next scene is the killer making newspapers aware of the unsolved act which has taken place without a major outcry, and providing cryptic codes etc as part of his ‘game’. The first 45 minutes or so hold the ‘action’ sequences, whilst the rest of the movie concentrates on the complex and absorbing investigation and the effect it has on those attempting to identify and bring the perpetrator to justice. 

At 2hours 50 minutes in the directors cut that I viewed, it is a hell of a long stint, but it is worth the watching, the three central roles are masterfully portrayed by Gyllenhaal, Downey Jnr and Ruffalo, and whilst this does not have the visual style of Se7en or Fight Club from the same director, it does move well, aided by a good soundtrack and dialogue. The meticulous detail in the film has you trying to second guess the investigation by the Chronicle reporter Paul Avery, and in places it reminds you very much of All the Presidents Men, because of the settings in the newsroom etc. The story makes it very clear that the lives that the Zodiac took from those he killed were only the start; the knock on effect on those tied into the case was so severe that they suffered personally as a result. The movie has such a lot of information to get over, that you feel overwhelmed at times, this is no more evident that when Graysmith views the case files, which take up masses of space, but the pace of the film does not falter in it’s construal of the facts.
 

9/10, this movie brings up to date the type of investigative work that All the Presidents Men depicted so well. It is factual but told in an interesting and absorbing way, and definitely worth watching if you like a tale told well. The end result is inconclusive, but you are able to surmise for yourself what you believe to be the truth – aided by the narrative of course, and it does lead your train of thought. Excellent performances in a compulsive watch.