Best known for overly violent and attention grabbing films such as Seven, Fight Club and Panic Room, filmmaker David Fincher tries something very different and intriguing with his latest film, Zodiac. Rather than being the "killer on the loose" movie that we expect, the movie is much more interested in the people who were behind the attempt to crack the case. Of course, the Zodiac killing spree has never officially been solved, though there have been many suspects since the murders began in the late 60s. Much like a true crime novel or TV show, Fincher's take on the case obsesses over the facts and gives us a very detailed time line about the events. If Zodiac comes up a bit short in some other areas, such as characterization, it certainly does not take away from the fact that this is a subtle and fascinating film for armchair sleuths and patient audience members who like a story that slowly grabs your attention and refuses to let go.

When cryptic letters and coded messages apparently sent by a serial killer who calls himself Zodiac start showing up in the editorial office of the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, editorial cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) is immediately hooked, as he has always had a passion for puzzles and riddles. Much like the rest of the local community, he is terrified and fascinated at the same time by this mysterious killer who makes no attempts to hide his murderous actions, even going so far as to demand his rambling letters where he brags about the killings be published, yet cannot be tracked down. Robert strikes up a relationship with the reporter on the paper assigned to cover the mystery, the self-destructive Paul Avery (Robert Downey, Jr), and eventually starts an investigation of his own. Robert plans to write a book on the killings, but the deeper he digs into the trail of Zodiac, the more obsessed he becomes. After forming an uneasy bond with the head Inspector on the case, David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo), Robert is able to uncover more information and names that will lead him closer to the truth as the years pass by and the trail of the killer has seemingly gone cold.

It is a credit to Zodiac that although the film runs nearly three hours, it does not seem nearly half that long while watching it, nor does the film ever meander or waste a single second. The film is tightly edited, and grabs our attention from the opening scene where we see a pair of young lovers in a car lose their lives to the killer who remains in the shadows. This is a very accurate, blow-by-blow account of the investigation, and we follow the different characters during their nearly 10-year involvement covered by the film. It is heavy on the facts and details, but also knows how to present these facts in such a way so that the pace never gets bogged down. The movie also manages to avoid sensationalism, the murder scenes being depicted in just enough detail to horrify us, but not disgust us. They are chilling and terrifying, but never exploitive. Rather than focus on the murders, screenwriter James Vanderbilt (Darkness Falls) finds it much more interesting to focus on the reaction of the community, and the people who are on the trail of the killer. In this way, the movie closely resembles Spike Lee's Summer of Sam, which covered a community reacting to the Son of Sam killings. The difference here is that Lee's film was about fictional characters in a real situation, where as Zodiac covers the actual people and details involved in the investigation. (The film is based on the book by the real life Robert Graysmith.) Because of the involvement with the actual people who lived through the experience, the film is able to give us a very intimate look at the investigations many highs and lows as Robert devoted his entire life to tracking down information for his book.

The detail-heavy approach that the film takes certainly works in giving us a detailed timeline on the events of the investigation, but it is less successful when it comes to humanizing the characters or making us care about them. If the movie has any weakness, it is perhaps that it is a bit too much obsessed with the details, and not enough with the people involved. There is a subplot in the film concerning Robert's relationship with a woman named Melanie (Chloe Sevigny) who later becomes his wife and the mother of his children. As Robert digs deeper into the trail of the Zodiac, she becomes fearful not only for his life, but for the lives of their young children. Not only is this subplot almost completely skimmed over, resulting in the lack of dramatic weight it deserves, but the entire relationship seems to almost be a mere afterthought. After Robert meets her for the first time at a restaurant, she disappears from the movie for a long period, only to reappear once again as his wife. We don't get a wedding scene, nor do we get to see how their relationship progressed between these two extreme points. This happens a lot in the movie, as characters seem to come and go as the story sees fit. Once journalist Paul Avery leaves the story as a key player, he pops up in one or two more scenes, almost as if the filmmakers are reminding us who he is. I got the sense that if the character wasn't played by a well known actor like Robert Downey Jr, we'd never see him again after he's played his part in the plot. The characters never come across as being underdeveloped or two-dimensional, but at the same time, I never felt the connection that I thought I should with any of the major players.

If the characters aren't quite as memorable as they should be, it is certainly no fault of the first rate ensemble cast. After a year's worth of hype with Brokeback Mountain, Jake Gyllenhaal returns with a very quiet and understated, yet effective, portrayal as the man who is driven by personal interest into the mystery. There is an intensity and sadness to his portrayal of Robert, which is understandable, given the fact that we sense he'd be willing to give up anything to uncover the truth. Robert Downey Jr gives a humorous and heartbreaking performance as the heavy-drinking journalist that Robert Graysmith initially befriends in order to get closer to the case. In the final of the lead roles, Mark Ruffalo makes a proper return to form after his embarrassing turn in last year's All the King's Men. He is very subtle yet intense as the head investigator, and the chemistry that he shares with Gyllenhaal as their characters slowly form a working relationship cannot be denied. Rounding out the highlights is John Carroll Lynch as the lead suspect in the case, who brings the right amount of quiet menace and anger to his role without going over the top. And even if Chloe Sevigny's role as Robert's concerned wife seems less than the character deserves, she is still able to capture our attention in just about every scene she's in with her vulnerability.
I admit that walking into the movie, I knew very little about the actual Zodiac killings. I knew of them, of course, but had very little actual knowledge of what went on behind them. While watching this movie, I felt like I was being informed in a highly entertaining way. Zodiac knows how to cover all the facts in such a way so that we feel like we are there with the characters, and uncovering the truth along with them. The film does a great job at capturing the era the story is set in through the music and other such subtle ways. (When the Paramount Pictures logo appears at the beginning of the film, it is not the modern day flashy studio fanfare, but rather the more primitive studio logo that appeared before their films during the time of the murders in the early 70s.) The filmmakers obviously did their homework with this film, and it definitely shows in just about every way. It doesn't try to solve the mystery, and it doesn't provide any easy answers. All it does is grab our attention in a way that few films can.

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