ZODIAC *** (out of ****) and ANATOMY OF A MURDER ***1/2 (out of ****)
ZODIAC Starring Mark Ruffalo, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Elias Koteas, John Carroll Lynch, and Chloe Sevigny Directed by David Fincher & written by James Vanderbilt, from the book by Robert Graysmith 2007 158 min R
		ANATOMY OF A MURDER Starring Jimmy Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, and George C. Scott Directed by Otto Preminger & written by Wendall Mayes, from the novel by John D. Voelker 1959 160 min NR
David Fincher’s “Zodiac” is kind of a mess, but certainly the real-life Zodiac murders were a mess, too.  Fincher, who helmed the serial-killer-as-infallible-genius thriller “Se7en,” does something of an about-face with a killer who is a liar, lucky, often incompetent, and sometimes simply stupid.  “Zodiac” bombards us “JFK”-style with facts, accounts, witnesses, testimonies, and huge amounts of uncertainty. A scene near the end explains it all:  “On a scale of 1 to 10,” the detective asks, “how certain are you?”  And the witness says “8.”  Suspects come and go but we’re never sure of anything.  Even when our hero comes face-to-face with the man he is sure is the killer, and looks into his eyes, and – what?  Is the suspect acknowledging his guilt, or merely irritated? Mark Ruffalo and Jake Gyllenhaal play a cop and a newspaperman, respectively, and both become obsessed with the killer.  Fincher tones down his renowned visual flair and gives the movie the colors of a faded ‘70s flick. I was fortunate that I saw “Zodiac” the same week I saw “Anatomy of a Murder,” which is the template for every courtroom drama that came after it.  It’s a classic example of a movie working on two levels.  On the easy level, we have Jimmy Stewart’s lawyer.  He’s the main character, gets top billing, and is, well, Jimmy freaking Stewart – “Anatomy of a Murder” can simply be enjoyed as Our Hero weaving his way through the legal system to free an innocent man.  The prosecutor – a slippery big city shyster played by George C. Scott – is a villainous sleazebag. But on the second level – wait a minute! – at every step of the way, like “Zodiac,” the truth is called into question.  Because we never see the murder – no flashbacks, no point-of-view, nothing subjective – we’re left to question everything we hear.  Stewart’s client (Ben Gazzara) only takes an insanity plea after Stewart suggests it.  Gazzara’s morality – murdering a man his wife claims raped her hours after the rape – is open to debate.  Was it really rape?  And even if it was rape, does that make killing okay? Even Jimmy Stewart is called into question – is he really any better than the big city lawyer?  George C. Scott may be ruthless and ambitious, but Stewart only wants to take enough cases to afford endless fishing trips – is that any better? Duke Ellington provides the score and black people show up as musicians, but nary say a word – a silence born of not wanting to get involved in a legal system that has bitten them before. Finished Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007 Copyright © Friday & Saturday Night                                                                                                 Back to home.