Entertainment

Zodiac

B

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr. and Anthony Edwards. Directed by David Fincher. R (strong violence, language, brief drug and sexual references). 157 mins. plus extras. Paramount, $29.99

A NEW SIDE OF FINCHER: Most people know David Fincher from his stylish and sometimes brutal features like Se7en and Fight Club , but here he shows surprising restraint in relating the events of a city gripped by fear, decades before color-coded terror alerts. Sometimes the Zodiac's killings are on-screen, sometimes off, but all are incredibly frightening. Mr. Fincher also has the right touch in blending CGI and real shots. You're never bombarded or bored. This is riveting entertainment.

BEST IN CAST: The ensemble cast is one of the best assembled outside of an Altman movie, and all are terrific, including Jake Gyllenhaal as obsessive cartoonist-cum-investigator Robert Graysmith (on whose books the film is based), Robert Downey Jr. as substance-abusing reporter Paul Avery, Anthony Edwards and Mark Ruffalo as the lead detectives, and the incredibly unsettling John Carroll Lynch as the prime suspect. There's also a subtle thing Mr. Fincher does with the killer that you'll have to watch the film to see.

SURVIVING THE CUTS: Originally clocking in at three hours plus, Paramount ordered lots of trimming. Luckily, Mr. Fincher's such a fantastic director, he can lose 30 minutes of his film and still have a masterpiece. Of course, that means a director's cut DVD should be released in the near future, as a promo on this disc reveals. Mr. Fincher always provides his special editions with enough material to teach a course on, and the upcoming release should be no exception.

BOTTOM LINE: This is the best movie of the year so far. If you missed it in theaters, go rent it immediately. But save your money for next year's director's cut.

Kip Mooney