NDBT

Went to see Zodiac last night – it was really great. I was expecting the whole thing to be Jake Gyllenhaal’s search for the killer, but his part doesn’t even come until the end. Instead, the movie unfolds realistically, with an incredible ensemble acting job. The movie is creepy – I was on the edge of my seat at times (which I’ve always kind of thought was just of turn of phrase until I actually scooted forward, like that might enable Jake to get out of the creepy house faster). Also – SF people – did the Adams’ or the Lazarus’ live near Washington and Cherry? The street corner looked familiar, but I couldn’t tell if that was just because I had been by it before. I think what I liked best (and what others might not like as much) is how realistic it was. Not just the period detail, but the sense that you are watching an actual investigation unfold. It isn’t hollywood, it isn’t flashy (some might say boring),but you get the sense that that was really how it happened. It’s refreshingly different.

And yes, I am biased towards the film because I was just so damn happy to watch scenes of SF (the transamerica building going up was AWESOME). Not only because SF is so the best city for noir films ever. I loved watching Jake’s car slide foward as he parked on a hill, I loved that they name dropped Bullitt and Dirty Harry, the fact that they shot outside the chronicle building (I’ve been there!), the overhead shot of the golden gate. Yay. 🙂 I also liked the little details in the background, like the upcoming stones concert in Altamont.

I almost hate to say that Mick LaSalle agrees with me (kinda – he thought the reality of it dragged a bit). Here’s a bit of his review: “Zodiac” is best appreciated as a showcase for fine acting, especially that of Downey, as the witty, hard-drinking, drug-taking Avery. It’s a portrait of a man in the grip of an addiction, someone funny and clever but full of pessimism and self-loathing, someone who seems to see through everything, including himself, and knows he’s riding the elevator of life all the way to the basement. After 20 years of these colorful, detailed performances, it might be time to stop thinking of Downey as quirky original or an eccentric favorite and start thinking of him as a significant American artist.

Avery’s flashy journalism puts him into conflict with Toschi, who’s played by Ruffalo in a kind of Method Acting-meets-Columbo style. He’s mumbly and indistinct, though he gets better as the film progresses, and his scenes with Gyllenhaal, in the last third, are some of the best in the picture. Gyllenhaal, by contrast, gives a clean, clear and meticulously detailed performance, conveying in believable and illuminating ways the obsessive and detail-oriented nature of the character’s mind.

I also now want a button that says, “I am not Avery”.
Hee: trivia according to IMDB: When the man is looking at the mug shots, Robert Downy Jr.’s mug shot was second from the left. Missed that…

Hanging around the hostel reading and watching the colbert report today. I thought a restful day was in order before 2 weeks of farm work.

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 17th, 2007 at 9:34 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.