Without a doubt, my two favorite films so far this year are "Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls" and David Fincher's "Zodiac." Yes, I know Perry is sometimes critiqued for being obvious and sentimental, but I'm a schmaltzy guy at times and I find his melodramas packed with situations I can identify with, people I recognize from my own life, and emotions very close to the surface. "Daddy's Little Girls" does not feature Medea or any of his more stock characters, but this story of an auto mechanic (the magnificent Idris Elba) trying to wrest custody of his three daughters from his scandalous ex-wife and her drug dealing boyfriend with the grudging help of a corporate lawyer (add hysterically funny to Gabrielle Union's bursting resume). Packed with drama, solid bellylaughs and not a few tears, it also stars the McLain sisters as the hero's children and they are cuter than cute.
Totally different but equally engrossing, "Zodiac" tells the story of the San Francisco Bay Area's most notorious (and still uncaught) serial killer. Based on the book by San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith, it is fascinating, spooky and riveting. Although more than two and a half hours long, I did not want to miss one minute of this superbly acted film. Robert Downey, Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Chloe Sevigny, Brian Cox and Arthur Leigh Allen (creepy!!) more than hold the screen and the cinematography is superb. I was around when the Zodiac was sending his letters to local papers and committing murders, and remember how scary that time was, and director David Fincher captures the 1970s milieu brilliantly. This may well be among the very best films of the year when all is said and done.
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