Watch Zig Zag For Free

Undescribable Perfection

Powerful

Just perfect...

A Masterpiece!

"Zigzag" is a 1970 film that stars George Kennedy as Paul Kennedy, a dying man who frames himself for an unsolved murder/kidnapping so his family can benefit from the reward money. His doctor has suggested a risky operation, but Paul has refused. He comes up with an elaborate scheme to be accused of the murder and collect the reward money under another name.Just one problem - after he's arrested, he collapses and gets the surgery and is cured. Now in order to save himself from the chair, he actually has to solve the case.Anne Jackson plays Paul's loving wife, and Eli Wallach his lawyer. So it's a top cast that provides good acting performances all around. Kennedy is good as the quietly desperate Paul, and one really feels the love he has for his family.This is an okay film destroyed by the ending, which makes you feel like you've been sitting there watching it for NOTHING. The audience feels betrayed at the end.Watch it for an exercise in frustration.

I caught this movie in the theater when it came out. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire movie. At the end I jumped up yelling "No, No, it can't end like this". I was not alone at being dumbstruck at the ending. With all the junk on video/DVD this movie deserves to be available on VHS/DVD. The character played by George Kennedy was almost crazed in his desire to provide money for his family after he died. No matter what he had to do, up to capital punishment, was not outside his moves. When it became apparent that he wasn't dying from a brain tumor, and all he could hope for was the reward money and his execution, his actions to prove his innocence appeared to suggest failure and success. The ending will knock the viewer silly.

The premise is familiar -- guy learns he's going to die, tries to find a way to leave his family provided for -- but it's presented in an interesting manner here, with Kennedy an appealing if unlikely lead. All goes well until the ending, which is so outrageously wrong for the movie that it completely sinks the film. A surprise ending is generally something many thrillers try for, but it has to be a surprise ending that satisfies the audience on some level, not one that throws the whole story back in their faces.

George Kennedy is an unusual actor for me. He is largely forgotten, yet has an Oscar to his name. He's in many of the films everyone remembers well, such as The Dirty Dozen, Airport and The Naked Gun, and yet he rarely catches the limelight as the leading man. He's also supremely talented, without ever appearing to be trying hard.In this superior thriller, he plays a man who discovers that he has a brain tumour. He arranges his own death, so that his wife can claim the insurance money. However, just as his plan is about to kick into action, he learns that he has been mis-diagnosed and that, in fact, he is not dying at all.This film stays one step ahead of the audience at all points. It is ingenious and interesting throughout, and has the added benefit of being a touch different to the majority of hard-boiled thrillers from this period. Perhaps it gets over-complex, and the downbeat ending is typical of the time. Nevertheless, this is a good film, and like some of the other user's who have reviewed it I am very baffled as to why it is unavailable on video.