moonspinner55 Review of Zig Zag

Zig Zag (1970)

Overwrought crime melodrama...initially interesting, and well-cast

[5/10 · 8 December 2011]

As a Los Angeles insurance investigator with a brain tumor (but unwilling to undergo the necessary laser surgery), George Kennedy bustles through this far-fetched, hyperbolic criminal nonsense like an overage Boy Scout. He proceeds to implicate himself in a year-old unsolved murder, which would allow spouse Anne Jackson to collect on the reward money; of course, the surgery becomes imperative--thereby leaving Kennedy a healthy, innocent man convicted of first-degree murder! Despite variable camera-work, and a somewhat confusing past-and-present style, this is a well-made picture with a solid cast. Kennedy, actually, has some fine early scenes; but once the plot loops become entangled, he has nothing to rely on but his typical slow-burn. John T. Kelley's screenplay changes gears in the final third (becoming standard cops-and-robbers stuff), releasing all the pent-up hot air within this scenario. It not only leaves questions unanswered, it also makes the L.A. police force look bad and the criminal justice system appear inept (which may have been intentional). ** from ****