Tomorrow's Entertainment..: Zodiac Review..

Based on the Robert Graysmith books " Zodiac " and " Zodiac Unmasked " about the real - life notorious Zodiac, a serial killer who terrorised California with a string of seemingly random murders during the 1960s and 1970s.. Zodiac taunts the San Francisco police with his letters and cryptic messages.. We follow the lives and careers of the detectives and newspaper people as they search for the murderer, each becoming obsessed with the case..

Rated: [ MA ] Strong Violence

Cinema Release: 17th May 2007

Running Time: 157 minutes

Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Jake Gyllenhaal, mark Ruffalo

After altering the landscape of the psychological thriller with " Se7en ", David Fincher returns to the genre with " Zodiac ", bringing with him an abundance of tenacity and inventiveness.. Patience is a virtue though - with a dubious screen time of over two - and - a - half hours and a story spanning 22 years, it is a daunting but ultimately fulfilling task..

Based on true events, the film opens with an unrelenting attack on two lovers in a parking lot in 1969.. Letters and ciphers confessing to the crime are sent to several newspapers by a figure named Zodiac, with the insistence that they be published or the killings will continue.. As fatal incidents mount, three men fall under the Zodiac's spell, including reporter Paul Avery ( Robert Downey Jr ), mild - mannered cartoonist Robert Graysmith ( Jake Gyllenhaal ) and homicide inspector David Toschi ( Mark Ruffalo )..

The media frenzy and public panic that follows is voiced through the three male leads, who become physically and psychologically weathered by their obsessive search to discover Zodiac's identity.. Gyllenhaal and Ruffalo deliver solid performances, but it is the scene - stealing Downey Jr as alcoholic reporter Paul Avery whose charisma adds humour to the otherwise intense landscape..

The film is amazingly detailed and impeccably crafted.. The opening murder sequence is chillingly shot - a lucid late - sixties aura perpetuated by darkness with flashes of distant fireworks.. Fincher's penchant for cinematic flair here is never ostentatious ( unlike " Panic Room "), remaining understated enough to truly serve the story..

The film is not without problems.. It is paced with a methodical rhythm of suspense and anxiety but remains a sensory overload of information. Fincher's preoccupation with the density of the investigation occasionally becomes sluggish in the second half of the film, losing the momentum and tension of the first half's cat - and - mouse interplay between Zodiac and the San Francisco Chronicle.. Some may feel a little hard done by at the lack of a neat conclusion, but this uncertainty is all part of Fincher's unsettling existential musings.