The Zodiac

the_zodiacrating-2.5Not to be confused with the excellent-looking David Fincher film, Zodiac, coming out later this year, The Zodiac is written by the Bulk(e)ley brothers (they spell their last names differently) and directed by Alexander Bulkley, a producer on "Robot Chicken" and "Moral Orel". You would think that the producer of those Adult Swim shows would have a sense of humor, if anything. But his movie is a big snore, when not just retarded.

The direction is actually fairly good and the style is interesting, but the plot is both irritating and pointless. The movie comes down a totally irrelevant family drama more than the actual killer or murders themselves, focusing on one of the lead detectives in the case, a top-of-the-line douchebag played to the hilt by Justin Chambers, as he folds like a card table under the pressure and takes it out on his family, played by the often-underused Robin Tunney and Rory Culkin.

The plot itself is entirely irrelevant, as it's just a bunch of made-up shit that has very little to do with the actual case, which never has been and likely never will be solved. Any implication that there are good suspects or The bits in between the Zodiac's killings are just filler and an excuse for the family members to not get along and argue. The bits of the Zodiac himself are handled fairly artfully and add to the movie's limited atmosphere.

The fact that such a sleek-looking movie with the promise of such dark material manages to be a total snooze-fest is a damned shame. It should teach filmmakers to not bore us to tears with family dramas about shithead cops.

Please, David Fincher, erase this crap from my memory.

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