Zodiac Director's Cut (David Fincher, 2006)

This for me remains David Fincher's best film to date. Fincher effectively presents us his intelligence and artistry through infusing film and reality in the darkest and enigmatic manner as possible. The film is very comparable to Spielberg's Munich, as Fincher has never been like this profound in his films.

The events took place in the late sixties/early seventies in the San Francisco Bay Area, as Fincher guides us to this rollercoaster ride of mystery, deception, and obsession in search of the real identity of the Zodiac killer. He also pinpoints the tone of that era by focussing on the fascade and the backdrop mood of the film in a very dismal way of presenting it. He practically overlooked the violences executed by the Zodiac yet never misses to disappoint the viewers by highlighting only the significant slayings like the second murder in Vallejo.

Through interesting characters led by the roles of Jake Gylenhaal (Robert Graysmith), Robert Downey Jr. (Paul Avery), and Mark Ruffalo (Inspector David Toschi), performances are indeed top-notch leaving its viewers tightly seated from beginning 'til end together with an intricately well-crafted script. The plot chiefly touches on the human obsession of both serial killer (as he craves for attention to the public especially to the affected locales), and the people figuring out who the real Zodiac is or if the killer really does exists? The film ultimately ends by justifying the circumstances that caused the inevitable loss to identify the killer --- mainly due to the lack of hard evidence. Each of the lead characters however, had their own accomplishments and self-fulfilling finale.

Moreover, I enjoyed how the "Dirty Harry movie scene" was inserted in the script to identify timeline and reference. Never a dull moment throughout the entire 168 mins with the presence of humor in the dialogue delivered by Gylenhaal and the "ever-stylish" Robert Downey Jr. Ultimately, a very impressive technique used by Fincher on how to manipulate and influence the viewers to be obsessed also with the search and how he wants our feelings to be captivated through his film.