Zodiac (2007)

Fincher's masterful, obsessive procedural about a cold case stands out for its strict chronology and focus on what happens after public interest fades. It ranks among the director's most personal and accomplished works, resembling All the President's Men in its diligence.

Fincher delivers a meticulous, responsible police procedural focused on the obsessed investigators rather than the killer himself, achieving impressive scale, clarity, and ambition despite some overly precise visuals.

The critic finds Fincher's film a seductive and confident thriller about the unsolved Zodiac murders, praising its chilling scenes, outstanding period detail and rich settings, strong performances from Downey Jr, Gyllenhaal and Ruffalo, and overall ambition despite the long runtime and lack of resolution.

Fincher delivers a compelling cat-and-mouse procedural that excels as thriller, police investigation and newsroom drama with strong period detail. The capable cast, especially Robert Downey Jr., helps make it one of the director's most accomplished films.

The film shifts from a procedural into an observation of the fruitless compulsion to solve puzzles, with bravura suspense sequences and a tone that moves from genre expectations to curious sympathy or mockery. Fincher captures the sprawl of obsession over years without delivering a neat resolution.

The film is a good but not flawless rebuke to Hollywood closure, strong on ideas, visuals and the limits of certainty despite some conventional elements and repetition. Fincher's use of HD cinematography powerfully underscores the unknowability at the story's core.

The film is a detailed, patient character study of men consumed by the unsolved case, with strong performances, but it requires patience and lacks Fincher's usual stylistic flair while becoming more suspenseful near its uncertain conclusion.

Fincher presents a careful, thorough investigation that can be engrossing but often sluggish, rewarding patience with its meticulous recreation of events while preferring other serial-killer films like Summer of Sam.

A dense but hypnotic and starkly involving account of unsolved murders, part investigative ensemble and part journalistic procedural that showcases the existential toll of obsession. Fincher's most mature work to date, it offers novelistic richness for discriminating audiences despite its length and lack of overt thrills.

Fincher blends newsroom drama and police procedural in a mature, restrained study of obsession that avoids genre thrills and heroics. The film stands out for its flat, mundane tone evoking the grind of police work and its focus on male camaraderie and psychological depth.

Denby calls the film superbly made but strange, noting its shift to a multifaceted procedural on obsession rather than a standard thriller. He singles out the emotional payoff of the pursuit itself and the vast effort of almost finding the killer.

Dargis praises Fincher's masterly, obsessive tracking of the Zodiac case and the men pursuing the killer through meticulous detail and intellectual puzzles. She singles out the film's focus on consciousness, conscience, and the experience of dawning awareness over typical thriller thrills.

The critic finds the film an elegant study of obsession and society's response to terrorism rather than a conventional thriller. She praises its meticulous craftsmanship, character work, and smart commentary on media and fear.