Zodiac (2007) is going to be on many people’s top ten lists for this year. And it really is a good movie. A lot of the power comes from its documentary nature. If the movie wasn’t following a true crime story and if it didn’t convince with realistic detail, you would be put off watching a police procedural for 2 ½ hours and not finding out who dunnit. But when you know the story is “true,” it becomes very powerful because the circumstantial evidence points to one man but the investigators cannot pin the killings on him.
The pace over the 2 ½ hours is almost constantly gripping in part because of the great cinematography and edgy editing—not over-the-top but lively enough to keep the visuals interesting. The art direction and costume design are superb, taking you back to the early 70s. Once you’ve witnessed the seemingly random killings early in the movie, you hang on every clue that might lead to the arrest of the killer. The investigators’ frustration becomes yours—an unusual but enlightening emotion.
The excellent acting helps maintain interest. Jake Gyllenhaal changes from nerdy cartoonist to impassioned investigator, and Mark Ruffalo is the alternatively enthused and cynical cop. But less prominent roles show how deep the quality goes. Chloe Sevigny, best know for her supporting actress nominations for Boys Don’t Cry, is perfect as Jake’s wife—awkward on the first date, quietly bothered by his growing obsession with the killer, and then sadly fed up with her husband’s behaviour. My vote for best acting and best scene is when three officers go to a factory to interview Leigh, the guy who turns out to be the prime suspect. Leigh is played by John Carroll Lynch whose background is in classical theatre with the famous Guthrie Theater Company. He plays the scene as if he is so smart he can barely contain his intelligence. Yet he slips and gives the officers a new piece of information, and then he tries to cover up so realistically—not panicking, not upset, not protesting too much, just giving a cover up a commonsensical try, knowing that it probably won’t work and that it probably won’t matter that it doesn’t work. Although movies based around serial killers are not everyone’s cup of tea, Zodiac is a quality film.