Zodiac (DVD)

(Also appears at Freeola.com and ShaunMunro.co.uk) WARNING: very minor spoilers below. David Fincher's "Zodiac" has been a long time in the making, Fincher himself spending 18-months reading and examing case files of the Zodiac killer's purported crimes and aiming to create a work that was highly accurate to the actual events themselves. After the agonising 2-and-a-half month wait for this film to reach our shores following the US release, it's finally here. On the heels of overwhelmingly positive reviews, yet with detractors however claiming the film drags its feet and offers an unsatisfying conclusion, does Fincher deliver the goods ...

Zodiac is based on a book written by Robert Graysmith about the true events of the Zodiac killer who committed a number of murders during the 1960s and 70s and communicated with the press throughout mostly via handwritten letters. The film itself concentrates mainly on Robert Graysmith himself, a cartoonist who becomes obsessed with solving the case, although it also shows the press, police, and also the attacks. Jake Gyllenhaal plays his part of Robert Graysmith excellently and I feel he really portrays his character well from start to finish. The whole cast in fact put in excellent performances and no one lets the team down. I found every single character ...

San Francisco is rocked by a series of apparently random killings in the late sixties and early seventies. The man responsible, who calls himself Zodiac, sends letters to local newspapers with coded hints to his identity, but despite the best efforts of Inspector David Toschi, who is leading the investigation, the police are still no nearer to catching the killer. Robert Graysmith and Paul Avery, cartoonist and crime correspondent for one San Francisco newspaper are particularly interested in the case and their investigation does dig up some valuable information for Toschi, but not enough to make a positive identification. Graysmith's obsession with the case takes over ...