movie review - Zodiac
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
Beware: this is a long movie, and one that seems to pick up its pace from the era in which it's set: the 70's.
Happily, it's also quite a good one. It tracks the story of a killer who calls himself "Zodiac" after an obscure cryptography routine. The killer starts his career in the 60's and the story leads into the 90's before reaching its conclusions. Along the way, it details the arc of those whose life is touched by the man's actions: the police, reporters, and others who wind up in eddies cast off the from the deaths.
In fact, it's these cast-offs who are the focus of the movie. One reporter descends into alcoholic oblivion; another obsessively begins to document the case at the cost of his marriage and happiness. One cop quits, and another suffocates under the weight of the case. Others retire, frustrated.
As a watch geek there was a scene I liked when they're talking to a suspect in the killings and the suspect is wearing a rare Zodiac watch. The watch is notably passed between the detectives.
And as a resident of St. Catharines when young women were disappearing and their bodies were turning up mutilated, the story of the police not pulling together a united, competent investigation really resonated.
I came away from this movie with several impressions:
- the movie makers knew the eras they were portraying quite well, and knew how to portray those times
- the portrayal of the killer himself was brilliant (as was the acting by John Lynch), with a way of casting doubt on identities and
- despite its length, slow pace and complex plot, the film was able to keep me watching. There are some scenes in this thing that just grip you. Really grip you.
Recommended. I recognize that it won't be for all viewers.