Odd Lot

The pattern with David Fincher has been that only his even-numbered films are truly great. The odd-numbered ones are usually worth seeing, always technically proficient, but ultimately a little messier, or a little slighter, or a little more disposable.

This rule goes back to the 1990s, when Fincher’s first feature, the third “Alien” movie, was a chopped-up disappointment, and then his second, the Thomist serial-killer drama Se7en, was brilliant and career-making. Since then, the even-numbered Fincher movies have been Fight Club, Zodiac, and The Social Network, all near-masterpieces; the odd-numbered have been The Game (sleek, twisty, slight), Panic Room (gripping, even slighter), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (interminable, Oscar bait, a dud), and 2011’s just-okay gun-for-hire effort, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.