In terms of critical reception, Zodiac was probably the biggest success in which Robert Downey Jr. played a part before Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes catapulted him into blockbuster stardom. It announced the serious arrival of director David Fincher in the eyes of avid movie watchers, even though he’d be around with the likes of Fight Club and Se7en which for some reason weren’t taken as seriously. It’s a movie that may not be as enthralling the first time you watch it—at least it wasn’t for me for some reason, as well as a number of critics—but somehow on that second watch, everything comes to life, not least of which is Downey’s performance as reporter Paul Avery.
It’s a subtle thing, but sometimes the interest a character can show in the mysteries of an investigation like the one at the center of Zodiac is enough to draw the audience in, and this is something Downey does rather strikingly in this movie. He is the seasoned guy who, like us, doesn’t know what to make of the Jake Gyllenhaal character at first, until he realizes he may be on to something and they begin to work together. As the stand-in for anyone who has tried and failed to solve a mystery for decades, Downey captures the frustration and near madness that can result from such an expenditure of one’s time and energy.
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