Director: David Fincher
Zodiac belongs in a genre I call a theater movie. I suppose all films are theater movies - better experienced on a giant, mind-blocking screen. What's more important about a movie theater is that it's generally time-blocking. We get immersed in the film and time disappears.
On a small screen, however, Zodiac's 2 hour and 40 minute running time is painfully obvious. And while it's a solid thriller that follows the story of the mysterious Zodiac Killer, it is simply far too long for what it tries to accomplish. There has to be a way to tell this story more economically. Fincher stuffs everything in because he doesn't want the film to be merely a police procedural, so we're treated to bone-chilling murders and murder attempts. We're also treated to Jake Gyllenhaal's character, who appears entirely irrelevant until halfway through the film.
If I saw Zodiac in the theater, I'd've given it 3½ stars, maybe 4. 2½ hours of this film, however - Hitchcock correctly noted that any film can always be shorter.
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