Not 'The Most Dangerous "Movie"'

'Zodiac'

Rating: R
Directed by: David Fincher
Running Time: 2 hours 40 minutes

Close your eyes and imagine what it's like chasing a ghost. Now figure in low raspy crackling voices, knives, and no witnesses (at least until they are shot that is) and you've got a pretty good idea of just who the Zodiac is.

The film documents the murders and the following investigation in the 1970's based on the real-life California serial killer who claimed to have killed 37 people, but can only be linked to five. Even with all the suspects, no one has been caught to this day.

Set in the San Francisco Bay Area, Zodiac is about the obsession and frustration of finding a clever murderer. Three men become consumed with the case, especially after the Zodiac starts mailing cyphers and puzzles to various newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle.

Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), the cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle, takes on the case a personal hobby. Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.), a writer for the newspaper, becomes directly involved with the serial killer as a result of the stories he writes. And Inspector David Toschi's (Mark Ruffalo) job is to find the Zodiac, as leader of the police investigation. All these men build their lives on the Zodiac, but are ultimately dragged down by it.

By the end of the film, David Fincher will have taken you on a wild goose chase. It actually fits the investigation perfectly - talk to too many people and you may lose your footing.

Fincher shows us that the Zodiac is just a man who can get lost in the crowd. Because the murders took place in different areas of California, local police became a liability to the federal investigation. He began exploiting the weakness of bureaucracy. By going to reporters with information, he pitted the press against the government.

Its within all this confusion that the Zodiac was allowed to avoid being convicted. With all the different stories being told, people started to only see what it is that they wanted to see. Everything simplifies down to blind faith. In this sense, the Zodiac became a ghost.

Overall, Zodiac is a good film, just not a great one. The film could have made a much stronger impact if it was shortened down to about two hours. I would have liked to have seen some more risks. However, it does have excellent acting, specifically from Robert Downey Jr. as a flamboyant cynic, and really captures the what its like tracking down the "most dangerous animal." The brilliance of the film lies in the irony of the hunter becoming the hunted and the hunted becoming the hunter.