Week 2: A film with your favorite actor (Mark Ruffalo)
Film: Zodiac (2007)
Genre: Thriller/Crime
Watched on: Kanopy
This prompt made me consider, for the first time, who my favorite actor might be. While I don't have a definitive answer, Mark Ruffalo came to mind, likely due to my repeated viewings of 13 Going On 30 and Just Like Heaven. Raised on 2000s rom-coms, these films hold a special place in my heart.
Zodiac, directed by David Fincher, is, however, a stark departure from that genre.
The film is based on two non-fiction books, Zodiac (1986) and Zodiac Unmasked (2002). It meticulously chronicles the efforts of investigators and reporters dedicated to identifying and apprehending the infamous Zodiac Killer in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This killer terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area, taunting authorities with cryptic messages and demanding the press publish their ciphers. Unfortunately, the killer's identity remains a mystery, and justice has yet to be served.
Widely considered David Fincher's finest work, Zodiac has cultivated a cult following for its gripping portrayal of the infamous serial killer's manhunt.
Perhaps my timing was off for a true crime film of this intensity, as it took me several days to complete Zodiac's 157-minute runtime. The first hour was genuinely gripping, setting up the murders and introducing the key players. But as the investigation dragged on, the film seemed to get stuck in a rut. Scenes felt repetitive, and the pacing stalled, making it a pretty boring watch for long stretches. I understand it might have been trying to mirror the real-life frustration of the unsolved case, but as a viewer, it just made the already lengthy runtime feel even more tedious and, honestly, unjustified.
This film didn't have much of an emotional impact on me, save for one truly unsettling basement scene. While the victim scenes were disturbing—and thankfully not prolonged—the overall lack of a strong emotional thread meant the stakes never really felt as high as they should for such a notorious and unsolved case.
For fans of this film, I would love to hear from you about why you enjoy it. However, as a first-time viewer of the film, it ended up being a 2-star experience.
