Jake - 'It's bigger than box office and awards'

There hardly seems to be a film critic out there who isn't at pains to include Zodiac in his or her top 10 movie list of the year. It makes for pure pleasure reading these Best of lists, remembering the days when Zodiac finally came out after what seemed like delay after delay and then feeling like it wasn't making the impact it should have done on box office takings. Now that seems less relevant, because Zodiac is right up there in the top ten, often in the top five and sometimes in the top two. We don't need vindication for this marvellous film, and I'm sure David Fincher and his amazing cast, crew and post-production wizards don't either, but it does make me feel good, as the year closes, to see Zodiac right up there.


I've made no secret of my own personal adoration of this film - maybe because the anticipation was so long and then was so perfectly rewarded - and it's a joy to revel in these celebrations of a film, which, if only allowed one film choice, I would take with me to that desert island (it obviously has electricity or an endless supply of batteries).

The Boston Herald put Zodiac right at the top: '“Fight Club” for grown-ups, David Fincher’s chiller is an engrossing, hypnotic, multitextured and evocative account of the 1970s-era serial killer.'

The Californian NC Times placed Zodiac at No 7: 'Calling "Zodiac" a crime thriller or a serial-killer flick forces its best qualities to take a back seat to genre preconceptions. "Zodiac" is so good because of its dedication to logic and deduction. That's why the best scene in the film ---- and one of the best scenes of the year ---- is a simple but also deceptively complex dialogue exchange between characters played by Mark Ruffalo and Jake Gyllenhaal. They solve a mystery with an exchange of words and the free flow of brain power, a give-and-take rumble more exciting and rewarding as entertainment than any gun battle. The film is a thinker with some under-the-radar great acting.'


Staten Island Live placed Zodiac at No 3: 'It's another dark movie -- about a serial killer, in this case -- but it's possibly the most entertaining title on this list, and the one that most rewards repeated viewings. Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. are all in top form in this film about the killer who terrorized San Francisco in the 1960s and '70s, while director David Fincher obsessed over every frame (and it shows).'

The Toronto Star had this to say: 'Zodiac: Forget Fight Club and Se7en. If you're looking for the real reason to consider David Fincher a major-league American director, all the evidence is right here. Zodiac is at once an epic true-crime police procedural and a genuinely chilling study in the nature of unfulfilled obsession. I should know: I've seen it three times already.'


The Limerick Reader put Zodiac at No 2: 'No matter what your star sign, you will love this three hour epic. Anything based on a true story gives a movie extra impetus and especially if it is a horror one. In 1970s' San Francisco a killer known as the Zodiac stalked the streets murdering people at random. This has become one of the most infamous unsolved murder cases in American history and now one of the best films of the year. This film and the scene in the basement proves that you don't need graphic violence and buckets of blood to scare viewers. Factor in fantastic performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jnr, and direction from David Fincher and you've got yourself a hell of a film.'


Elsewhere, the editors of Rotten Tomatoes found room for Zodiac in their top 5, and critics at NewsOK placed Zodiac at No 2 and No 5. The San Francisco Sentinel had this to say about one of its favourite films of the year: 'David Fincher found a story to match his own obsessive need for control in this infuriating but brilliant and original film about the elusive (and in some ways debilitating) quest for truth.' The New York Sun placed Zodiac at No 7, although I'm otherwise ignoring them as they called Jake's performance 'anaemic', which makes me doubt their abilities to judge a good performance when they see one.


Rendition, unfortunately but not unexpectedly, got little mention. However, the Kane County Chronicle ignored Zodiac and placed Rendition at No 8: 'The fall brought many films that examined our post-9/11 world. This is the best of them, a shattering drama about an American Muslim (Omar Metwally) falsely accused of a bombing in northern Africa. Metwally is outstanding in a cast that includes Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep and Peter Sarsgaard.' The Canadian Windsor Star (in a very odd list) placed Rendition equal 11th. The Progressive launched its Progies awards and included Rendition as one of the films up for Best Anti-War Feature: 'South African director Gavin Hood (2005’s "Tsotsi") cast a withering eye on the "War on Terror" and its draconian tactics in this anti-torture drama starring Oscar winners Streep and Reese Witherspoon, plus Jake Gyllenhaal, Omar Metwally and Yigal Naor.'


Two sites (MTV and Sign On San Diego picked up on the 'This is my first torture line' as one of the funniest lines (in an unfunny film) of the year.


The Zodiac Dircetor's Cut DVD

Not long now til the DVD event of 2008 (or until the DVD of Rendition comes out a few short weeks later). Here is another long, full and very interesting review of the release (with spoilers).


Zodiac in Cannes

I'm obviously in a Zodiac mood, so here is a video of the Cannes Press Conference. We've seen extended clips of this before, with all manner of difficulties due to the flow of the footage or the voiceover. Here are a few minutes, which can be enjoyed without any hindrance at all.



Jake falls in love with the marines and Brokeback

Having been informed that Jarhead is the perfect film for the Christmas holidays - something to do with a Santa hat - here is another video interview Jake recorded about the film, this time with the BBC. The interviewer asks something which had come to my mind as well - Why would anyone want to be a marine? Jake replies: 'I don't know, maybe it's somewhat of a male thing... I speak for myself, there's a time in my life and still is, I think, when there's a feeling of aggression and anger and a feeling of wanting to punch your fist through a wall.' Being a marine allows these feelings to be expressed, legally. 'And that's what's tempting about being a marine. And that's why I sort of surprisingly fell in love with even becoming a marine just for film.'


'When you get a lot of guys, even when they're actors, in a tent - you put 14 guys in a tent in the desert for five months - it's surprising how... similarly they will act like marines'. Jake fell for Tony Swofford's 'regret and appreciation' for his marine life, which were mixed up in this 'beautiful prose' and 'I fell in love with that... I could just empathise somewhere.'


The British interviewer points out to Jake that Brokeback Mountain and Jarhead opened in the UK within a week of each other, which gives Jake the chance to say of Brokeback: 'I think it is the most beautiful love story of the year... It's bigger than us all... It's bigger than box office and awards... It means you can mix genres, you don't have to contextualise everything and keep things in a box to feel comfortable about it. That anything is possible, this movie kind of says to me and that's why I think it's really, really beautiful.'

It's also interesting to hear Jake not really being able to make up his mind about whether this run of golden films has opened up more opportunities for him or not, 'Yes and no'.


And finally...

...This interview is now available again on YouTube so watch it while you can:



Includes pictures from IHJ, Just Jared and Getty Images.