went to see zodiac last night, a film based on a real serial killer (and a book) in the 60's and early 70's in california. i didn't realise it was based on a true story until the film stated as much at the start. i was sort of waiting for a twist at the end, but i guess this was real life, and not something made up. starring jake gyllenhaal as robert graysmith (a cartoonist turned obssessed detective), robert downey jr (paul avery, a newspaper journalist), and a bunch of other people. the film starts off with a couple getting shot in their car at a lookout point at night.
i haven't read either of the zodiac books, so i can't say how consistently the movie portrays the characters of story, but either way, it's pretty creepy. it continues with the story, a few more murders, and more investigative work by the police, newspapers, and the cartoonist, graysmith. eventually, they all decide that one guy, arthur leigh allen, is their man, despite the fact that no conclusive evidence points to him. i don't know if it was the actor, or how the actual guy was, he didn't seem like a clever killer to me (maybe cos he was bald, and had that bit of hair on the back of his head), he seemed a bit dopey to me. although, all the circumstantial evidence sort of points to him.
it was a pretty good film, although i kept forgetting that it was based on a true story, so i kept waiting for the good guys to get shot, or a twist to happen, and the killer to be someone you wouldn't believe. the only problem i had, was that i didn't realise to close to the end of the film, that the first two murders in the film, the guys actually survived (just the girls died), they never really mentioned it, just showing them alive later. also, the guy at the end with the film posters (and the basement), he was a little confusing.
pic taken from wikipedia.
#33 dtra (david tran)
Last edited at 4:17 17th-jun-2007
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