Objectivity, realism and lack of sensationalism for the sake of it are all great, but damn. This is dull and always has been. No idea why it's considered so good (but that's how I feel about most of Fincher's work except for his directorial peak, the "Vogue" video, of course).

Nothing is a big deal here, nothing has any particular weight. Not the murders, not the cyphers, not the process of decoding them, not the suspect, nothing. Nothing is worth slowing down and building up. Everything just happens, and quickly, because the next thing has to happen and we only have 162 minutes, we can't take our time. How are we going to show the cartoonist's marital problems if we spend too much time creating tension for new clues that may point to the killer?

The real-life story has no conclusion or resolution to this day, which is a handicap for any crime film. However, the source material remains interesting enough to make for an interesting movie, and could have made for one if directed by someone who didn't just present every development as a random, tedious flash that only one and a half of the film's own protagonists cares about. It's a miracle how a film that seems so, rightfully, bored of itself has managed to pique the interest of so many.