The movie Zodiac is creepy. For those of you unfamiliar with the movie it is based on the historical events surrounding the Zodiac Killer who terrorized California in the late 60s and 70s. David Fincher's film does an excellent job of roping you in to the story, and generally making your skin crawl.
One of the things that I really thought was done well was the general sense of unease that you felt throughout the film. Is this person the killer? Is that person the killer? Will they find the killer? Jake Gyllenhaal was perfect parts obsessed, endearing, and quirky as the illustrator interested in Zodiac. Likewise, Mark Ruffalo was superb as the Inspector hunting Zodiac. For my money, John Carroll Lynch was the best actor in this film as the suspected Zodiac Arthur Leigh Allen. His ability to portray a sort of detached humanity and casual evil was off-putting.
I thought that Chloë Sevigny did a great job in her role by being convincingly understanding, yet pragmatic about her husband's obsession. She hated the obsession, but she realized she couldn't control it, and so left him to finish it alone.
One thing that was a little confusing is that the current temporal position in the story was sometimes hard to discern. Months would fly by, and although you did get guideposts via onscreen text it could feel a little off. Along those lines I have no idea how closely the movie followed the facts of the case. This may seem like a minor point, and it probably it is, but I thought it was pretty wild that the police officers cooperated so much with Gyllenhaal. On the other hand, if Robert Graysmith, who is played by Gyllenhaal was able to figure all of this out without the help of police that is probably more ridiculous.
Worthwhile movie that moves along at the right pace at the right times, 8/10 easily
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