Zodiac 2007

When movies are based on books, I feel sad for the screenwriter because most of the time the people who read the book would say, "I like the book better."  I myself am very, very guilty of this, but when I put myself in the writer for the screen adaptation's shoes, I understand that not all the elements could be included.  There are a few screenplays that are even better than the book and there's this very rare case when book and the movie are on equal footing. This is one of them.

Zodiac is very faithful to the book.  Yes, it is still very impossible to include everything, but all the important elements of the book are included here.  The events were checked by the screenwriter, meaning, it is also as accurate as accurate could be.

With a great story, powerhouse cast, great screenplay and magnificent direction, how could this movie go wrong? What am I saying? There are movies with the same elements, but still don't go well with their box office results.  This movie is not only filled with all those elements, it also earned a lot and I mean a LOT.

Jake Gyllenhaal made us try to understand why Robert Graysmith's obsession about the case was important to him.  Chloë Sevigny made us feel Melanie's frustration and why she had to leave Robert and take their children along with them. 

Mark Ruffalo was Toschi, Robert Downey, Jr. was Avery, Anthony Edwards was Armstrong, Dermot Mulroney was Lee, so on and so forth. 

Of course, the murders were quite scary(so I didn't know if I should write about this or not), but what scared me most was when Robert Graysmith was at the basement.  I was so immersed that I thought I was a neighbor watching from another basement. Hey, that may sound crazy and impossible so it is probably better to describe my feeling like I was hiding in one of the closets or something, because that was how real the scene seemed to me.  When I realized  that I was just a member of the audience I started shouting at Jake Gyllenhaal, telling him to run.  Well, he listened, but the door was locked. Of course, at the back of my mind I knew he was going to be able to escape somehow because he was able to write the book, but still...

Every scene was convincing.  Every actor was...I mean IS,  important.

Scary, thrilling and nail-biting this movie may be, it is worth watching again and again.

For others, this case is an unsolved mystery, but I think, even if the DNA of the suspect did not match with the postage stamp, I am with Graysmith here.  The killer just had an accomplice and the case was solved.  If you don't know anything about the case, buy Robert Graysmith's book and/or watch the movie. 

Directed by

David Fincher Screenplay by James Vanderbilt Based on Zodiac by Robert Graysmith Jake Gyllenhaal as Robert Graysmith Mark Ruffalo as SFPD Inspector Dave Toschi Robert Downey, Jr. as Paul Avery Anthony Edwards as SFPD Inspector William Armstrong Brian Cox as Melvin Belli John Carroll Lynch as Arthur Leigh Allen Richmond Arquette as Zodiac 1 / Zodiac 2 Bob Stephenson as Zodiac 3 John Lacy as Zodiac 4 Ed Setrakian as Al Hyman Chloë Sevigny as Melanie Graysmith Elias Koteas as Sgt. Jack Mulanax Dermot Mulroney as Captain Marty Lee Donal Logue as Ken Narlow Candy Clark as Carol Fisher John Getz as Templeton Peck John Terry as Charles Thieriot Philip Baker Hall as Sherwood Morrill Adam Goldberg as Duffy Jennings Zach Grenier as Mel Nicolai Ciara Hughes as Darlene Ferrin Lee Norris as Young Michael Mageau Jimmi Simpson as Michael Mageau Pell James as Cecelia Shepard Patrick Scott Lewis as Bryan Hartnell James LeGros as Officer George Bawart Charles Fleischer as Bob Vaughn Clea DuVall as Linda del Buono June Diane Raphael as Mrs.Toschi Paul Schulze as Sandy Panzarella Joel Bissonnette as Inspector Kracke Tom Verica as Jim Dunbar John Hemphill as Donald Cheney James Carraway as Shorty Matt Winston as John Allen Jules Bruff as Catherine Allen John Ennis as Terry Pascoe

The Suspects