DVDs: A sure sign of a hit

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), Sept 21, 2007

IN THE sweltering summer of 1969, when America was preparing to celebrate peace and free love at Woodstock, a serial killer named Zodiac terrorised the Bay Area of San Francisco. He taunted the authorities with letters and devious ciphers. David Fincher's exhaustively-researched thriller follows the efforts of four men - homicide detectives Dave Toschi (Ruffalo) and Bill Armstrong (Edwards), charismatic San Francisco Chronicle crime reporter Paul Avery (Downey Jr) and the paper's shy cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Gyllenhaal) - to bring Zodiac's reign of terror to an end.

The men become obsessed with unmasking Zodiac, following the trail of clues for decades, edging ever closer to self-destruction. Director David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) once again demonstrates his visual flair with some brilliantly-orchestrated set pieces.

Each time, Fincher masks the killer's identity, either by filming Zodiac in shadows or carefully framing the shot. Like the protagonists, we're never sure whether the police are focusing on the correct suspect, chiefly Arthur Leigh Allen (Lynch).

The director ensures a brisk pace despite the endurance-testing 151-minute running time and a surfeit of historical detail, culled from interviews and archive footage.

Gyllenhaal takes top billing, but this is Downey Jr's film as the glory-chasing newsman who almost loses his sanity in the pursuit of a headline. Riveting. DVD Extras: "This Is Zodiac" featurette, HD/BD sizzle reel.

ZODIAC

(Cert 15, 151 mins, Warner Home Video, Thriller/Drama, pounds 20.99/Blu-ray pounds 25.99) Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Robert Downey Jr, Brian Cox, John Carroll Lynch.

*****

CAPTION(S):

GRIPPING TALE - Robert Downey JR, left, and Jake Gyllenhaal star in the superb thriller Zodiac