Zodiac

This is a long but really entertaining movie. I should modify that statement by pointing out that I’m more fascinated by serial killers than your average citizen, and spent a lot of time reading books about them including the Zodiac Killer, of course. This movie details the (somewhat fictionalized) minutiae of the case – the excitement of new leads, the dread of coming face-to-face with possible murderers, the frustration when bureaucratic red tape stops the investigation dead in its tracks… And everything is filmed in a very palpable past, San Francisco in the late 60s to late 80s. The sets and cinematography perfectly immerse you in the time and place, and the acting is solid all around. My only complaint is that the film does drag on with a mostly unnecessary last act involving Jake Gyllenhaal’s obsession with the case, and the last quarter of the film is really the only time when it delves into standard Hollywood nonsense. On the whole the predictable suspense-movie cliches are kept to a minimum, and the movie is really outstanding… I’d especially recommend it to true-crime fans, and people with long attention spans.