'Zodiac' review

This killer thriller hits the mark, but leaves you in your seat too long

By Ashley Harris
Published: March 12th, 2007 | 1:19pm

Why do serial killers fascinate us? Perhaps our fascination lies in the fact that the mystery of their evil can never truly be solved, even if the killers are eventually caught and prosecuted. Zodiac is the story of the serial killings by a man who called himself Zodiac and attacked at least seven men and women beginning in the late '60s and continuing through the '70s. It has been speculated that the Zodiac killer was responsible for several other random murders during the time in Northern California.

Unlike the similarly-themed Summer of Sam, the film is not geared to portray an image of the political and social climate of the era, though it devotes a fair amount of time to critiquing bureaucratic processes that limit the efficacy of our legal system. Rather, the story explores how the murders haunted the lives of several key investigators and reporters involved in the case. The Zodiac killer claimed his murders in several cryptic letters he sent to Northern Californian print publications. The letters taunted investigators and reporters of the newspapers to which they were sent, suggesting both false leads and clues to the psyche of a madman.

Because of the Zodiac's demands for publication, the killings ultimately became salable news stories. The film does a good job capturing the profitability of tragedy without being overly preachy. Robert Downey Jr.'s role as a glib alcoholic reporter plays off Jake Gyllenhaal as a slightly socially inept but sincere cartoonist and Mark Ruffalo's hard-hitting cop. All three characters face defeat as they confront their Hardy Boy delusions. But despite being well-acted with a story line that mostly maintains commitment to the real-life facts of the case, the film should have been edited down. At over two and half hours, even the biggest psycho-thriller junkie would lose interest.

Image courtesy of Paramount