Zodiac - Meticulous

Cast : Jake Gyllenhal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr.

Rating: 6.5/10

I went to this movie with my mind full of expectations of a psycho thriller which would end with a twist that wud stun me, because thats what David Fincher has always given me. Be it Se7ev or Fight club or The game, he has never dissapointed. In a way the end does surprise me, but not in the way I wanted. It is after all a movie based on real life events and real case files and hence there is no artistic freedom to David.

The movie is meticulously made - because it plots down 22 years of pursuit of a killer named ZODIAC, from 1969 to 1991. Its about this serial killer who has an unconfirmed number of killings.He appeared first in 1969 and then killed people with gaps of months and even years. It shows the pursuit of 3 people - 1) Journalist - Downey Jr. 2) Cartoonist - Jake Gyllenhal and 3) Policeman - Mark Ruffalo, who tried to solve the mystery of this killer. This killer used to send letters to the Press and tell them how he killed people and if they did not put weird crypted notes on the front page he would kill more. Also, he used the cypher symbol and the name ZODIAC which he picked from a watch brand. This killer was hungry for Publicity and tried various stunts to get that. 22 years of pursuit by the 3 guys is shown painstakingly.

Acting is top class and Downey Jr. gives his role the Johnny Depp- Jack Sparrow kinda spunk. The movie does has its boring bits, but again it is because the movie traces all the events that occured during the pursuit. It also has some loose ends, which seem stunning because if that would have been the case, police would have caught the killer much earlier. It some how depicts the lack of coordination between the police officers in various states of the US. But the atmosphere and the detailing is meticulous (I cant find a better word). I think David should return to the SHOCK genre he belongs to after this, because he has done a good job on real life stuff - but I rather have his shocking fantasies. Watch this 2 and a half hour movie for the story and dont hope for a twist which you cannot comprehend.