Review By: Mark Zimmer
Published: January 07, 2008

On occasion a criminal captures the imagination in a particularly emphatic way; Jack the Ripper did so both through extreme violence and a series of taunting letters to the police and press. The California serial killer who called himself The Zodiac followed in those footsteps, killing five confirmed victims in 1968 and 1969 (though claiming many more in his letters) and sending a lengthy correspondence, filled with puzzles and ciphers, vague threats and displaying an odd fondness for Gilbert & Sullivan musicals. Although never caught, his talent for branding and media manipulation have given him an importance in true crime lore that has few equals.

David Fincher’s film begins with several of the murders, though including only the ones that had surviving witnesses. While graphically depicted, they occur very quickly and it’s clear that Fincher’s interest lies not with Zodiac or the killings, but specifically with the effect that his conduct and especially his letters had upon three men. These include San Francisco Chronicle reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.), who did the principal coverage on the case, and detective Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo), the lead investigator for the San Francisco police. Most importantly, it centers on Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), a cartoonist for the Chronicle who becomes completely obsessed with the case, and eventually would write the book that started a generation of armchair detectives on the case, referred to affectionately or contemptuously in equal measure as the Yellow Book.

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