David Fincher’s magnificently obsessive new film, ZODIAC, tracks the story of the serial killer who left dead bodies up and down California in the 1960s and possibly the ’70s, and that of the men who tried to stop him. Set when the Age of Aquarius disappeared into the black hole of the Manson family murders, the film is at once sprawling and tightly constructed, opaque and meticulously detailed. It’s part police procedural, part monster movie, a funereal entertainment that is an unexpected repudiation of Mr. Fincher’s most famous movie, the serial-killer fiction SEVEN, as well as a testament to this cinematic savant’s gifts.

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The notorious San Francisco Bay Area serial killer might have eluded law enforcement agencies for decades, but the compelling cat-and-mouse story that is ZODIAC never escapes the virtuoso grip of director David Fincher. Firing on all cylinders as a creepy thriller, police procedural and ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN-style investigative newsroom drama, the smart, extremely vivid production oozes period authenticity. Factor in a highly capable cast led by Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and a never better Robert Downey Jr. (...) His cast is uniformly splendid, but if the Zodiac killer got away with murder, then Downey ought to be charged with grand theft larceny given how often steals his scenes away from his competent co-stars.

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Fort d'un alléchant trio formé de Mark Ruffalo, Jake Gyllenhaal et Robert Downey Jr., ZODIAC bénéficie également de solides acteurs de soutien, dont Chloë Sevigny, Anthony Edwards, James Le Gros et Elias Koteas. (…) ZODIAC ne provoque pas les frémissements morbides propres aux histoires de meurtriers en série. Fait étrange, si nous considérons que le très stylisé SE7EN de Fincher n'a toujours pas été égalé dans ce genre. En fait, ZODIAC serait l'antithèse de SE7EN. Il s'agit d'un film d'époque décousu fourmillant de détails à propos d'un tueur sans génie et désordonné, où les preuves se perdent, les communications interrompues sont monnaie courante et l'enquête fait marche arrière à tout moment... comme dans la vraie vie.

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A great opening can carry you a long way, though, and ZODIAC has a stunner: an attack at night on a couple in a parked car that’s among the most brilliantly cruel sequences I’ve ever seen. Fincher has already chilled you to the bone with the combination of darkness, distant fireworks (it’s July 4), and Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man” (...). (...) The second murder set piece is in some ways the greater - and more perverse - achievement (...). The rest of the movie is purposely flat - and, to be honest, I can’t remember many scenes distinctly. They go by fast (sometimes too fast). The cinematographer, Harris Savides, uses a newfangled hi-def video camera, and the lighting doesn’t seem fussed-over. The excellent actors (...) talk quickly and play it close to the vest in the best police-procedural style.

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An obsession that cannot be satisfied erodes the souls of the central characters in ZODIAC, a mesmerizing account of the infamous, never-solved Bay Area serial killings as seen from the perspectives of several men who spent years trying to crack the case. Conveying an astonishing array of information across a long narrative arc while still maintaining dramatic rhythm and tension, this adaptation of Robert Graysmith's bestseller reps by far director David Fincher's most mature and accomplished work. It is decidedly not sensationalistic along the lines of SEVEN, hardcore fans of which may be disappointed by new pic's methodical nature and unavoidable inconclusiveness. But discerning auds worldwide will find deep satisfaction, pointing to moderate but sustained B.O. given proper distrib nurturing.

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