I was not really interested to see this movie, because we all know it is still an unsolved case. So for me it appeared to be a speculative assortment of gossip and trivia which led nowhere and felt like a real waste of time since the movie is 158 minutes long (plus the advertisement breaks on HBO) playing after 11 PM on a workweek. But I peeked in out of curiosity, not knowing who had directed it (Director of Seven and Fightclub, etc.).
I have to say I got hooked easily to stay awake till the end of the movie well past midnight.
I watched it then as a movie instead of a crime documentary.
It doesn't really matter that the story remains unresolved. And there are many characters which never seem obtrusive or complex.
It is a real thriller at a thrilling pace.No blood and gore - yet horror of horrors through the implied scare and death and the hunt for the crazed serial killer known as "Zodiac".
The 3 main lead actors Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. are awesome in their roles. I looked up on how Director Fincher approached this project and all his hard work shows - it is clearly a good movie, well written and directed and acted (Digital Camera and As many as 70 takes for some scenes ).
The movie is based on 2 books on the Zodiac killer by cartoonist
Robert Graysmith - who was soon out of cartooning job at the newspaper and deep into an obsession with finding the killer. Graysmith is now known only as a True-Crime Author. He later also penned a book on the unsolved case of the death of Hollywood star Bob Crane.
The author, the screenplay writer, the director - all of them were deeply into their own research for this movie. Interviews and paperwork and reading. The 2 male surviving victims of Zodiac were even Consultants on this Movie.
Fincher has said that -
"All the President's Men" - was the style of movie he wanted to implement for the Zodiac movie.
All this effort truly shows in the movie, in the tension and pace and craziness and confusion and intense clarity with the lack of substantial evidence to incriminate in a court of law.
Personally, based solely on the book, I would say the police's prime suspect "Arthur Leigh Allen" surely had not done all this alone (if he indeed was the killer) - most certainly he had help from at least 2 friends (fellow psychos/ perverts/ whatever).
It does seem that apart from Darlene murder, the rest of the murders seem to lack any personal (or professional, as in paid hitman) motive. He killed because he could and probably because as the Zodiac claimed in his letters - he enjoyed it - and also he believed he needed to do it (if the mental illness aspect is included). Well, yes not all killers are insane. A human doesn't need to be insane to kill another human. Most of the killers and murderers do it in planned or conscious effort.
Anyways -1. was this a grand way by one or more guys to prove they can get away with murder - just have fun with a media circus and spooking the police force in various jurisdictions ?
2. was this an act of a mentally ill person? Arthur Leigh Allen does seem to fit that bill. He was also arrested on charges of molesting a female student.
3. was this just random murders with some non-criminal nut sending letters to newspapers to create "Zodiac" - similar to how some idiots make prank calls for "bomb" hoaxes ?
Whatever it is Leigh Allen seemed a good candidate who surely had a significant part of the crimes. He is also tested to have been above average intelligence,
with an I.Q. of 137, and was allowed to skip three grades. Then the sexual perversion charges. His own family relatives having poor opinion of him. The things the police found in Leigh's trailor when they searched it. The various other circumstantial evidence when the police first interviewed him. Leigh was one of thousands of suspects interviewed by cop Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) to have written a letter to Toschi offering help - it was typewritten. So many things.
Yet, no real hard evidence.
1. Fingerprints - no match
2. Handwriting - no match - tested for the ambidextrous suggestion
3. DNA test - done many many years later and 10 years after the death of Leigh - and the poorly preserved evidence ensured there was no match on DNA test.
The author Graysmith's claim of the lack of letters and blank phone calls when Leigh was in prison, under scrutiny and when Leigh died also is very much suspect but nothing a policeman could use actually.
Ah! Watch the movie - and be ready to be obsessed with the contagious passion of these investigators.Much appreciation for Fincher for staying determined to offer an investigative scrutiny and never glamourising the Zodiac killer. Fincher had said that "he didn't want to make a movie which killers would want to collect/watch". There is also a funny mention of the Dirty Harry movie which was based on Zodiac murders at the time. The Zodiac killer had mentioned in letters that he wanted to see movies made on him and who plays him next in a movie based on his crimes.
Fincher's movie "Zodiac" did make profit but was outclassed at the box office first by
WILD HOGS (awesome movie yes) and then by
300 in the second week. The movie made more money outside USA than in USA. American audiences seemed to have been not in the mood for the analysis and narration presented. Personally I think Fincher surpassed - "All the President's Men" - even if we don't know the actual killer/culprit.
Tough luck Fincher - but the DIRECTOR's CUT DVD seems to be the best bet - looks very promising and the official website offers downloads (and upgrades) - to give you more than you spend on it.
http://www.zodiacmovie.com/* * * *
