2. “Zodiac” (2007)
Though he was coming off the box-office success of “Panic Room,” David Fincher’s knack for ambitious material didn’t necessarily make him a studio favorite. So it’s no surprise that his next feature, a talky, two-and-a-half-hour procedural, had Paramount scratching their heads. Released to a box-office death in the spring of 2007, the film confounded Fincher-ites who expected the serial killer plotline to bring back the flashy, fleshy pleasures of “Se7en” and while it was praised by critics and landed on numerous top 10 lists, it was forgotten by awards season. While on the surface it’s an exhaustive retelling of the search for the famed Zodiac killer, the script by James Vanderbilt slowly spins a tale about the cost of professional obsession as Robert Graysmith’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) fascination with the case turns into a decades-long hunt that never comes to a satisfactory end. A film that is entirely about the journey and not the destination, the film was dismissed by “Fight Club” fanboys, who also failed to notice Fincher’s jaw-dropping technical work that proved he was a master at wringing texture and nuance from the technology even in its relatively nascent form. Shooting digitally, Fincher utilized a staggering number of effects shots to seamlessly and accurately recreate the 1970s San Francisco skyline, and he obsessively recreated facsimile newspapers in the San Francisco Chronicle offices that had accurate headlines and articles for the era even though they were never on camera; it’s no wonder Fincher related to the material. We expect technical wonders from Fincher, but here the procedural fascination and the excellent, understated performances draw us in. Vanderbilt, in tandem with Gyllenhaal, does a wondrous job of transferring Graysmith’s obsession to the audience. Featuring a wonderful, pre-“Iron Man” turn by Robert Downey Jr. as Graysmith’s smoking, drinking, quipping newsroom colleague Paul Avery and solid turns by Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards as cops tasked to the case, “Zodiac” quietly demonstrates that the terror caused by random and senseless acts of violence can resonate for years. Unloved by audiences on its first release, it’s well on its way to its rightful position as one of the best films Fincher has ever made —serious, meticulous and desperately sad.
1. “Se7en” (1995)
Still Fincher’s bleakest, most haunting and yet most all-round satisfying picture, “Se7en,” is an unforgettable modern crime classic and a landmark film that essentially made the careers of Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow and Fincher himself (Pitt’s first leading role was only the year before in “Legends of the Fall“). And it cemented Morgan Freeman‘s unrivaled status as go-to gravitas guy while still allowing him to show some impressive range as one of the more atypical noir gumshoes. Grisly, dark and dank, the mood and aesthetics of this seminal serial killer film are second to none; the entire film looks and sounds and feels like an open wound that’s just on the verge of turning gangrenous. In case you’re somehow unaware, the film centers on two detectives, a disillusioned old-timer counting down the days of his upcoming retirement (Morgan Freeman) and the naive, aggressive newbie trying to make his mark (Brad Pitt), in their search to stop a psychotic serial killer (unbilled Kevin Spacey) who is picking off his victims using the seven deadly sins as a guide. The dichotomy of the cops’ two trajectories in life is just one of the details adding texture to what is already a layered tapestry of unsettling psychological elements. And while the plot might sound like standard Hollywood fare, Fincher largely bypasses buddy-cop/ action cliches to deliver a twisted and disturbing thriller that irrevocably scars both the audience and its character in its utterly brilliant, jaw-dropping conclusion (one, that Brad Pitt had to fight for, threatening the studio he’d bail on doing publicity for the film if Fincher’s cut wasn’t kept intact). Fincher’s been accused several times of coldness and aloofness, but here whether it’s Andrew Kevin Walker‘s script, the actors’ chemistry or Fincher’s own affinity showing through, there is a real sense of compassion for the characters, which ups the stakes to sky-high levels and allows the dour message about humanity’s inhumanity and depravity to land with shocking impact. “Se7en” is ultimately about the corrosion of morality and the decay of the human soul and Fincher somehow seems right at home. The term “What’s in the box?” will never be the same.
