Let me say upfront that I've only seen one David Fincher film - "The Social Network". But he has so many fans that I decided to catch this once it showed up to stream free on Amazon Prime. Although I appreciated the acting (mostly) and the great capture of late 60s/early 70s San Francisco, I was not wowed.

I'd read enough about this film to know the focus was less on the serial killer and more on the efforts to find him (the case remains unresolved to this day). But I just didn't feel much suspense and it seemed to go on forever, just like the Zodiac Killer case. As a character study of the 3 individuals (a reporter, a detective, a cartoonist) who became preoccupied and also messed up by the case, there was some interest. But it wasn't enough to sustain me even though I stayed with it till the end.

Kudos nonetheless to Mark Ruffalo and Jake Gyllenhaal who were terrific in their roles, and a host of supporting actors - Elias Koteas, Melvin Belli and a very creepy James Carroll Lynch. But once again I found Robert Downey Jr. particularly annoying. His portrayal (although maybe accurate for the real-life Paul Avery) seemed like yet another one of the odd, abrasive, and snarky characters he's played in countless other films.

So I know others have high praise for this and for Fincher as a director, But this did very little for me.