Zodiac

Not an easy movie to review as I can say that I liked it, but there is something that bothers me and makes me feel uncomfortable saying that I liked. Let’s try to explain what I mean.

Not your regular American movie and not even a typical David Fincher movie, as I do not find it similar to Se7en, The Game, Fight Club or Panic Room. This one is different. Is more international, more centered in the main actors performances than anything else.

I was not familiar with the Zodiac real life story (and I was in San Francisco in those years!!! –well, I was a very young) or with the two books Robert Graysmith wrote about the “most elusive” serial killer in the US. So I was not aware of the end of the story and think that the movie gave me too much information about the case that made me sort of tired and didn’t even wanted to guess who the killer was and always thought that in the end the story will tell me. So it was a surprise to find that no, I will never know who the killer is.

Yeah I think that the problem with the movie is that it gives too much information. Seems that Fincher also got obsessive about this case and was flooded with lots of additional data and somehow he transferred to his vision of the script based on Graysmith books.

I enjoyed the beginning when the story introduced the killings, the killer and the role the San Francisco Chronicle plays, that was thrilling and exciting; at some point the story goes stall and little boring until Jake Gyllenhaal character becomes obsessive with the case and the story again starts to be interesting, thrilling and exciting. His performance is quite good and according to me is the only character that you really feel his obsession.

Reading some reviews found a viewer comment that called my attention, he believed that in this movie nothing happens. Actually is true, nothing happens and I believe is the reason why the movie is so good, different from other American thrillers and why is doing good in the festival circuits and bad in America theaters. The movie was nominated for the Golden Palm at 2007 Cannes Festival.

So, lets try to summarize. Yes I liked the movie and it bothered me the amount of information that flooded the story the movie tells. The movie is 158 minutes long and to be honest time passed fast even with the middle sort of boring part, as is squeezed between two very good parts.

Perhaps this movie more than a drama, thriller or crime is a great study about obsession… and in this case I do recommend it to everyone that want to feel some thrills and a lot of obsession angst.