Review #725: 'Zodiac' (2007)

You would be forgiven if you went into David Fincher's Zodiac expecting a routine serial killer flick, but, although it opens with two memorably brutal murders, it puts aside character and plot to simply document the case of the Zodiac killer in the late 1960's and into the early 70's. The problem is, he was never caught, so Zodiac draws you into the jigsaw puzzle that was the search for the killer, only to be frequently met with dead ends and red herrings. The three lead characters come and go throughout the film, but this is not about them, it's ultimately about the fear that gripped San Francisco when the Zodiac was on the prowl.

At the San Francisco Chronicle, a letter arrives from someone claiming to be the Zodiac killer, who has already shot a young couple in their car. The letter demands publication, and offers a puzzle involving strange symbols as a means of uncovering his identity. This draws in Chronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), who, despite his interest, is not taken seriously by the staff, who include crime reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.). The Zodiac strikes again, attacking a couple in a park and shooting a taxi driver in the back of the head. Police detectives David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and William Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) are brought in to investigate, and liaise with Avery and Graysmith, whose lives start to be consumed by the case.

Fincher is obviously comfortable in this setting, having already brought to life the eternally drizzly and grim world of Se7en (1995) and the miserable confines of modern corporate life in Fight Club (1999). Zodiac is a mixture of both, here filmed digitally, and here combines a grimy brown colour palette with Fincher's recognisable eye for the stylish. It takes pride in its detail, grinding out excitement within the most mundane of activities. In Zodiac, a close-up of handwriting or the discovery of a previously ignored newspaper clipping become just as tense as any action scene. After all, this is a film about the case, so such close observation is as vital as it is entertaining.

The acting is top class across the board, with Mark Ruffalo, a character actor who has gone underrated for far too long, standing out in the least showy role of the lead trio. Downey Jr. brings his natural charisma to the boozy, erratic Avery, and Gyllenhaal, given the most screen-time (his character wrote the book the film is based on) is a likeable underdog. The characters aren't given much time to breathe between the fast-talk conversations and the digging for clues, but its the Zodiac himself that looms largest over the film. He is barely seen outside of the opening half hour, but his presence is never far away in Fincher's nervous San Francisco. And there lies the film's genius. Impeccably directed, brilliantly written, and utterly terrifying.


Directed by: David Fincher
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, John Carroll Lynch, Chloë Sevigny, Elias Koteas, Brian Cox
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #652: 'The Killer Inside Me' (2010)

The Killer Inside Me, a brutally violent neo-noir from British director Michael Winterbottom, raised hell at Sundance, sending audiences into frenzies of disbelief and light-headedness. Of course, as usual with premature festival outrage, the film is really not as appalling as the uproar would have led you to believe. There is one truly sickening scene - as gut-wrenching as any burst of violence I've seen on screen - but, the real tragedy is that this insistence on portraying it so graphically actually takes the focus away from what is a very stylish, if tonally uneven, pulp thriller. Although Winterbottom has juggled genres and styles with relative ease in his previous work, mainly to positive results, perhaps his inexperience with tackling a project so deeply rooted in Americana leads to the film's downfall.

Small-town deputy sheriff Lou Ford (Casey Affleck) is sent to warn off prostitute Joyce (Jessica Alba), who is having a dangerous affair with the son of construction tycoon Chester Conway (Ned Beatty). After realising they have the same violent sexual tastes, they begin a love affair and devise a plan to extort $10,000 from Conway, as Lou believes Conway to be responsible for the death of his brother. Unbeknownst to Joyce, Lou, despite his pleasant demeanour, is a violent sociopath, and after Lou beats Joyce to death with his bare hands and runs with the money, county attorney Howard Hendricks (Simon Baker) is called in to investigate. So Lou is forced to cover his tracks while he dotes on his fiancee Amy (Kate Hudson).

Pulp writer Jim Thompson was possibly the grimmest writer of his ilk, and The Killer Inside Me is widely thought of as his best work. I have not read the novel, so I am unaware as to how Lou Ford is written, but here he is a blank but undeniably fascinating character. He is a character that always seems in control, even when he seems surprised at just what he is capable of. Yet for someone seemingly so clinical at killing, he's not very good at it. His extortion plan is full of holes that could lead back to him, and it doesn't take long for Hendricks to figure him out. Often a glance or a word will make you wonder if he even understands himself or anything he is doing. Casey Affleck is a fine actor, and his Lou Ford is intimidating. Even though he's slightly built and his voice is a high-pitched drawl, he is a scary character to spend 90 minutes with, and he even surpasses his performance in The Assassination of Jessie James By the Coward Robert Ford (2007), of which I felt he was robbed of an Oscar.

Winterbottom wisely steers away from any psychological analysing of Ford, only hinting at childhood abuse (but not the way you would think), and glimpses of his intellect. Instead it makes you ponder this hideous character, and stay with him (but not necessarily root for) throughout the duration of the film. But it's Winterbottom's approach that is the problem here, blending a mixture of styles that causes the film to seem contrasting and haphazard. There are moments of pure noir - headlights approaching in the dust, characters sat in empty diners, cynical narration - and these scenes are at ease with the sleaze of the film's focus, but often it will kick in with some banjos at inappropriate moments that caused me to wonder whether I should be taking the film seriously. When it does take itself seriously, it's often inspired, but the final scene is so badly handled that I did wonder if a different director with more experience in the field would have made a much better film.


Directed by: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, Ned Beatty, Elias Koteas, Tom Bower, Simon Baker, Bill Pullman
Country: USA/Sweden/UK/Canada

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #243: 'Let Me In' (2010)

12 year-old Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) lives alone with his divorced mother. He is bullied at school and leads a generally lonely existence, until a man and what looks like a little girl moves in to the flat next door. The man (Richard Jenkins) kidnaps a young man, hangs him up by his feet and slits his throat, catching the blood. He slips on the ice, causing him to drop the blood which spills onto the floor. Later, we see the young girl Abby (Chloe Grace Moretz) shouting at him for doing this. Abby and Owen start a strange friendship, and it soon becomes clear that Abby is a vampire. Owen shows Abby what it is like to be human, many things she has forgotten, and Abby teaches Owen that he must stand up to his tormentors.

Matt Reeves' second adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist's Swedish novel Let The Right One In faced a backlash from fans of Tomas Alfredson's brilliant original when it was announced. Reeves was adamant, however, that this was not a re-make of Alfredson's film, but a fresh adaptation of the book, relocating the action from Stockholm to New Mexico. This film would keep the same focus on the central friendship between Owen and Abby (originally Oskar and Eli), and this would be a film in its own right.

I'll try not to mention Alfredson's 2008 version too much as this is a novel adaptation, but it is hard to ignore it given that it is one of my all-time favourite films, and, in my opinion, the greatest vampire film of all time (including Muranu's Nosferatu (1922) and Dreyer's Vampyr (1932)). Let Me In introduces the character of the Policeman (Elias Koteas), who does not appear in the original (I'm not sure if he is in the novel), and he seems to be there to play the moral centre of the film. This choice I could have lived without, as it is almost like they were worried that the whole film may seem amoral to an American audience. Well, it is about good and evil after all, and what defines it, so the addition seems wholly unnecessary.

Thinking about it, the more I write about this film the less I'm liking it. I know I said I wouldn't mention the original too much, but even though Reeves said this was a fresh adaptation, there are a lot of shots and scenes that are exactly the same to Alfredson's original. Only here, they are devoid of any atmosphere or heart. The original's perfect pace, and creeping atmosphere really got to the heart of Oskar. It emphasised that he was a troubled child with a worrying obsession with crime, knifes and voyeurism. Let Me In tones this down, making him a much more innocent character. Everything that was dark and different that the first film explored - the revelation that Eli/Abby is a castrated boy; the hinting that Eli/Abby's protector is a paedophile - are wholly ignored. It's like Reeves and the producers felt the Western audiences would be stupid to grasp these dark themes.

Also, the extremely poor CGI deserves a special mention. While it was used only when necessary in Alfredson's version, here it is used a number of times, especially when Abby is in her vampire mould, attacking a person or climbing up a tree before the hunt. It does nothing except take away the 'reality' of it all. This is a story that needs to be grounded in a believable setting, in order to emphasise the social themes, and to make the coming-of-age story more real and easier to relate to. But this is seriously damaged, and the film feels ever more like a fantasy horror, rather than a drama, which at the story's heart, it ultimately is.

The good, there is very little of to be honest. The acting, especially by McPhee and the always-impressive Moretz, is very good, although it is a shame they weren't given the whole of their characters to explore. But everything the original made subtle, atmospheric and scary, this Americanised version makes obvious, loud and jumpy. I don't know when directors will realise that loud noises aren't scary. Overall, very disappointing, but wholly expected. This is not a re-imagining, but a re-make. And a very average one at that.


Directed by: Matt Reeves
Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloë Grace Moretz, Richard Jenkins, Elias Koteas
Country: UK/USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie