As the opening credits of Zodiac scrolled by, I thought to myself, Wow! Who was the casting agent on this film? Santa Claus? Christmas either came very early for director David Fincher, or a just a little bit late. Either way, the cinematic package he just wrapped contains just about every edgy star in Hollywood’s constellation—everyone from hot young stars (like Jake Gyllenhaal, Adam Goldberg, and Mark Ruffalo) to venerable once-hot, once-younger stars (like Anthony Edwards, Robert Downey, Jr., and Chloe Sevigny), to hot properties who never seemed young (like Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, Philip Baker Hall, and John Carroll Lynch). And those are all just for starters. Whew!

Fincher being Fincher, the cinematic vehicle which encompasses this celestial sphere of movie-making influence is not just about the self-named serial killer we know as the Zodiac; it’s also about the culture of personality worship that fueled the publicity-hungry murderer. It’s also a wry commentary on the self-destructiveness of obsessives everywhere—including filmmakers.

For the very young, those who’ve been living under a rock in some corner of the universe, or those star-travelers who are so old that their memories are simply bad, the Zodiac claimed responsibility for a series of California murders, curried cozy and abusive relationships with the press, got his letters and ciphers published in the papers, and inspired a raft of books and movies—without ever being caught.

Former cartoonist and puzzle enthusiast Robert Graysmith became the investigation’s biggest fan, eventually connecting some of the case’s most obscure dots and formulating the soundest speculative guess as to the Zodiac’s identity. Sadly, as Fincher’s postscript reminds us, the prime suspect conveniently died before he could be prosecuted—so we’ll never know if the cartoonist was right. Still, Graysmith has managed to get two compelling books and a film out of the story.

Yes, Zodiac is compelling as entertainment—in spite of the fact that there are no chases, no signature Fincher mind-bends or camera-whirls, no wild sex scenes, and only a spattering of violent murders. Here indeed we find that Fincher can tell a story without relying on his inventive and spectacularly effective cinematic gimmicks and gewgaws. We even find out, to a degree, what makes Fincher tick, through his portrayal of Graysmith. This is character- and dialogue-driven mystery served straight up.

Still, it won’t likely be everybody’s cup of swill. It seems overly long at 160 minutes, particularly given that several epilogues are required to tell us how the story really concluded. For my money—which, gladly, I did not actually spend—I would have much preferred if the story had focused more exclusively on Downey, Jr.’s Paul Avery or Gyllenhaal’s Graysmith, and less on Mark Ruffalo’s Inspector Toschi.

When the stars are read and done, it’s odd having seen both Gyllenhaal and Chris Cooper in leading roles in recent weeks. As fine as Zodiac and Breach are as films, I’d still sooner pop October Sky in the DVD player and watch these two fine actors spar.

Zodiac is rated R “for some strong killings, language, drug material and brief sexual images.” Well, it is about a serial killer, after all. Just the same, the last I checked, Turistas also earned the same rating. Sorry, there’s just no comparison. By that standard, Zodiac is strictly R-lite. But leave the kids home, anyway.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Greg attended a press screening of Zodiac.