It’s circa 1969 and random couples are being brutally murdered before our eyes. With a desire to be the next Manson or Jack the Ripper, tabloid-hungry-for attention-killer writes random letters to the San Francisco Chronicle confessing what he does and why. He calls himself the “Zodiac” and this based-on-a-true-story that plagued San Francisco for decades unsolved, centers around four main characters: Robert Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) is the star reporter for the paper, Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) is the homicide investigator with his partner William Armstrong (Anthony Edwards of “ER” fame now with hair). But it’s cartoonist Robert Goldsmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) – a young, obsessed guy who interrogates suspects, breaks into Police libraries, and drives his colleagues insane from his crazy need-to-know who dunnit, that’s our real hero. It’s his hunger that suddenly evolves in the the second 90 minutes of this movie where we’ll find the heartbeat of the suspense. Part “All the President’s Men” and part “L A Confidential” (minus the chemistry of the partnered cops) this intricate and hypnotic 2 hour and 40 minute drama is brought to us by director David Fincher famous for “Fight Club” “The Panic Room” and “Seven” of which this most closely resembles. A smart story but too much story – too long a movie – that will undoubtedly get lost in the box office shuffle from bad word of mouth. Three tiaras.
