Joel Siegel: 'Zodiac' Is Killer, 'Wild Hogs' No Gas

March 2, 2007 — -- "Good Morning America" movie critic Joel Siegel reviews current films.

Zodiac

This is the story of San Francisco's Zodiac killer in the 1960s and '70s, and if you know the story, I won't spoil anything. But David Fincher has made a terrific film in spite of the reality.

Something that works -- the sideburns, the '70s clothes, the actors don't look like themselves -- and that somehow involves us more. And not even the names were changed to protect the innocent.

This film really takes us back to San Francisco of that era. Jake Gyllenhaal is the Chronicle's cartoonist, whose character will end up writing two books on the killer.

Mark Ruffalo plays the San Francisco cop who was the real-life model for "Bullitt" and "Dirty Harry." Robert Downey Jr. is the crime reporter who broke much of the story. Even without an ending, their obsessions make the movie hypnotic.

Wild Hogs

Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, William H. Macy and John Travolta play four men from Cincinnati with midlife crises.

Wannabe bikers, they run into real bikers. They run out of gas, Tim Allen gets hit by a bug, John Travolta gets hit by a bird, William H. Macy gets hit by a for-sale sign.

How do you get stars this big to make a movie this bad? I know it's true actors really can't tell how a film is going to end up. But guys, didn't the script give you a clue?

The Lives of Others

There's another movie getting a lot of buzz and it was a surprise winner of the best foreign language film Oscar: "The Lives of Others."

I don't know anyone who has seen this film who hasn't said, "This is one of the best films I've seen in years."

It takes place in 1984, and 10 percent of the people in East Germany are in or are paid by the Stasi, the secret police. Their job is to spy on the other 90 percent. In this case, the country's leading playwright and most famous actress are being spied on.

If this were a book, I would've read it three times and given it to everybody I know for Christmas. We're only 60 days into 2007, and this is already one of the best films of the year.