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Inspector Toschi discusses the case with lawyer Melvin Belli

The actors do an impressive job of developing convincing characters without distracting us from the mystery. Gyllenhaal's performance is a more adult version of his haunted Donnie Darko character. His is face drawn and sad, his large eyes staring half at the details and half into nightmare, he wanders into a downward spiral, longing to find that missing piece so that he can rest.

Ruffalo is equally engaging in his most demanding role since You Can Count on Me. He makes Toschi a thoughtful cop who internalizes his rage, where other actors would have wanted to dramatize this character's desperation and disintegration.

Downey Jr., on the other hand, can't help but ham it up as he always does. And he gives the film some much-needed humor, even if he is a bit out of step with a rather sullen supporting cast, which includes Donal Logue and Elias Koteas as weatherbeaten cops. Chloe Sevigny does what she can with the thankless role of Graysmith's increasingly frustrated wife. But the film is almost stolen by John Carroll Lynch (better known as Norm Gunderson of Fargo), who plays a creepy child molester.

If the film has a weakness, it's the predictable story of Graysmith's family troubles. The more the movie zeroes in on his solitary quest to catch a killer, the more it steps into the territory of conventional thrillers.

One of the Zodiac's letters sent to The Chronicle

Eventually, when Graysmith emerges as the closest thing to a central character, we see that families are being destroyed by the Zodiac's tactics as well.

Nevertheless, Zodiac remains riveting for its entire 154 minutes. We're led in a mad dash through a maze of forks in the road, dead-ends, and strange new paths that lead us right back to where we started, until we're dizzy. Clues are strewn like candy all along the way, and they prove to be just as empty, just as useless.

Zodiac is sure to cause complaints that it's just a parade of information that leads to nothing at all. But dig deeper, and you'll find a story about the elusive nature of evil in a world that thinks information, knowledge, and technology will eventually solve our problems.

Dig even deeper, and you'll feel the vibrations of 9/11. While Toschi and Graysmith panic and plot, applying all their powers of reason, technology, and information to try and eliminate the threat, it's hard to miss the implications. The Zodiac slips through every net, just like that present-day criminal mastermind who taunts America with video appearances instead of writing letters. After all of the post-9/11 investigations, manhunts, arrests, theories, and invasions, the threat is still out there. Our government, law enforcement agencies, and media have failed to find a solution. We've witnessed an epidemic of fear and the escalation of a worldwide conflict.

Reason and information are certainly helpful in bringing criminals to justice, but humankind will never muster enough resources to solve the problem of evil. That kind of help can only come from heaven. But no one looks up in this town.

Still, Fincher does give us a few glimpses of the city from above. Whatever he intended, it's just enough to make us wonder what God sees as he watches us scurry about in our futile efforts to solve problems on our own, as he waits for us to remember how much we need him.

But even if we believe that God will someday right all wrongs and heal all wounds, Zodiac still leaves us with chilling questions. If he is benevolent and all-powerful, why does he allow such acts of cruelty? It's the kind of conundrum that can challenge a person's faith. The answer lies buried in a history of sin, in the glaciers of an ice age. We can only hope, as the earth groans, that all will come clear someday in the light and heat of a just and merciful God.

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