My 200 Favorite Movies: Reviews of Zodiac & Collateral

Photo Credit: Shelf Talk - Word Press

Don't forget to catch up on my series to date:

Three Best Picture nominees: L.A. Confidential, Mystic River and Hannah and Her Sisters
Three Oscar winners: No Country for Old Men, Kramer vs. Kramer and The Wrestler
Three "Sleepers": Bernie, The Drop and Lucky Number Slevin
Two Rom-Coms: Pretty Woman and Love, Actually

Now it's time for a pair of crime dramas directed by two of Hollywood's heavy hitters...

ZODIAC (2007)

The precursor to Netflix's addictive Mindhunter, Zodiac was directed with skill and superb pacing by the great David Fincher. This is a two-hour, 37-minute movie that feels like an hour and 45 minutes at most. 

Zodiac has it all -- it's an investigative journalism/detective story about the dogged pursuit of the elusive and enigmatic serial killer, but it's also suspenseful and energetic with explosive bursts of graphic violence. 

Two hard-working actors, Jake Gyllenhaal (as a journalist) and Mark Ruffalo (as a cop) are at the heart of the investigation, completely immersed in their high stakes game of cat-and-mouse with the intelligent and frustrating killer. John Carroll Lynch puts in a tricky and creepy performance as Arthur Leigh Allen. 

In my opinion, Zodiac owes an awful lot to Alan J. Pakula's All the President's Men (1976). In a classy move, Fincher pays homage with his layout and design of the San Francisco Chronicle's newsroom. If you've seen All the President's Men, you will see the intentional similarities. 

** Frascella's Score: 9.5 out of 10 **

COLLATERAL (2004)

I'm not really a Michael Mann guy. He certainly has his own aesthetic, so I can't fault him for that, but I think his movies tend to drag due to poor editing. Some directors just can't seem to let go of any of their material. 

That said, Collateral is perhaps his tightest and most entertaining film. A ruthless and interesting Tom Cruise plays Vincent, a contract killer scheduled to knock off a number of potentially-damaging witnesses in the same night. In order to complete his assigned task(s), Vincent enlists the help of an unwitting cab driver named Max (a toned down and vulnerable Jamie Foxx), who quickly realizes that he's in a situation he'd rather not be in. 

Max tries to wiggle his way out in a few different fashions, but Vincent has no plans to change drivers. As far as he's concerned, he and Max are linked for the night. Essentially, Max is Vincent's hostage as he crosses paths with characters played by Javier Bardem, Jada Pinkett-Smith and other recognizable faces. 

I like the powder keg action in Collateral, but perhaps my favorite aspect of the film is its screenplay, written sneakily by Stuart Beattie. Vincent and Max may be a killer and a cabbie, but they are complex, multi-dimensional characters who have interesting things to say. 

Collateral is an entertaining film with effective surprises and unanticipated depth. Whenever it's on, I have a difficult time turning it off. 

** Frascella's Score: 9.5 out of 10 **

MY UP-TO-DATE ARCHIVE OF ALL REVIEWS AND SCORES

(The Top 200 series will continue, but the list below includes ALL of my past reviews and scores.)

1. Up in the Air (9.5/10)
2. Steve Jobs (9.5/10)
3. Collateral (9.5/10)
4. No Country for Old Men (9.5/10)
5. The Wrestler (9.5/10)
6. The Drop (9.5/10)
7. Zodiac (9.5/10)
8. Kramer vs. Kramer (9.5/10)
9. Margin Call (9/10)
10. Hannah and Her Sisters (9/10)
11. Mystic River (9/10)
12. L.A. Confidential (9/10)
13. Lady Bird (9/10)
14. Stay (9/10)
15. Gone Girl (9/10)
16. Nocturnal Animals (9/10)
17. 45 Years (9/10)
18. The Edge of Seventeen (9/10)
19. Bernie (9/10)
20. Lucky Number Slevin (9/10)
21. Tape (9/10)
22. A Perfect Murder (9/10)

23. War Dogs (8.5/10)
24. The Founder (8.5/10)
25. In Bruges (8.5/10)

26. Split (8.5/10)

27. Bad Moms (8.5/10)

28. Basquiat (8.5/10)
29. Love, Actually (8.5/10)

30. Moonlight (8/10)
31. Pretty Woman (8/10)
32. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (7.5/10)

33. The Revenant (7.5/10)
34. The Good Shepherd (7.5/10)

35. The Shallows (7.5/10)
36. Focus (7.5/10) 

37. The Night Before (7.5/10)
38. The Walk (7/10)

39. 10 Cloverfield Lane (7/10)
40. Loving (7/10) - No review available
41. A Most Violent Year (6.5/10) - No review available
42. The Shape of Water (6/10) - discussed in this review
43. The Boy (6/10) - No review available
44. Muhammad Ali: Say My Name (6/10) - No review available

45. Joy (5.5/10)
46. Taking Lives (5.5/10)

47. La La Land (5.5/10)
48. The Visit (5/10) - discussed in this review
49. The Mule (5/10) - No review available
50. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (5/10)
51. Make Love Great Again (5/10) - No review available
52. Molly's Game (5/10)
53. Set It Up (5/10)
54. Get a Job (5/10) - No review available
55. The Interpreter (5/10) - No review available
56. Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars (5/10) - No review available
57. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (4.5/10) - No review available
58. Brooklyn (4.5/10) - discussed in this review, and this review
59. Ocean's 8 (4/10)
60. Everything Must Go (4/10) - No review available
61. Why Him? (3.5/10) - No review available
62. The Program (3/10)
63. Pitch Perfect 3 (2/10)
64. Shut In (2/10) - No review available
65. Premonition (2/10) - No review available

66. Rings (1.5/10)
67. Mother's Day (1.5/10)
68. I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (0/10) - No review available