One review I read said something along the lines of the viewer gets tangled in with the investigation and becomes as interested in it as the characters are. For me, that absolutely held true. From a story standpoint, yes it was "talky". It was very little action, but a lot of story. A LOT of webs. Lots of layers. Riveting stuff, in my opinion. Kept me interested all the way through...and it didn't do the one thing that films like this tend to do: throw in forced, unnatural subplots to define the characters more. Those always just seem totally unneccessary.

Not to say there weren't subplots; the ones they had were just fine. They didn't detract from the story whatsoever and they did not waste a second of time on them. So that was good.

Then from a cinematic standpoint...this shit was great. The film changed tone through the years (since it takes places over a matter of 4 decades), but still manages to feel natural in it's progression (somewhat like The Aviator). As was mentioned, the soundtrack is phenomenal, the cinematography is great, and, much as I like them, there were very few Fincherisms inserted throughout. Some might even say he didn't put his stamp on this one like Spike Lee "didn't" in Inside Man, but I'd definitely disagree.

Acting? Jake: Damn good. RDJ: Fantastic. Ruffalo: Well done, sir. The cast was great and they all seemed to have a fantastic repoire. They all delivered the intricate, wordy, biting, and oftentimes hilarious dialouge perfectly.

Thumbs way up. I loved it.