Zodiac tells the story of Robert Graysmith, a cartoonist for a newspaper who becomes very involved in trying to solve the Zodiac murders.
Robert Graysmith, who lives very much in his own world and doesn’t attract much attention to himself, is played wonderfully by the very adorable and talented Jake Gyllenhaal, who we (should) all know from Donnie Darko (preferrably the Director’s Cut) and of course from his role as Jack Twist, a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain that should have got him is first Academy Award (but didn’t quite).
Robert Downey Jr. plays the drunkard journalist that covers the murders, which might not even have required much acting on his part. He was mumbling throughout the whole movie, and somehow it seems to me that all his roles are alike, which bores me. A lot more interesting were Anthony Edwards of ER fame and Mark Ruffalo (Just Like Heaven, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, My Life Without me) as police inspectors working on the case, and not to forget Chloe Sevigny, who had a nice but comparatively minor part in the movie. She’s another actress I’ve had a soft spot for eversince I saw her in If These Walls Could Talk 2 and then Boys Don’t Cry and then Shattered Glass. (I’m trying to forget I ever watched that horrible Demonlover.)
I was slightly bothered by the graphic violence in that movie, even though it was reduced to a few scenes, but other than that the movie was suspenseful and well-acted. The time frame of things was impossible for me to follow but didn’t play a major part, really, and one scene in particular had me really at the edge of my seat. I’ll say again that Jake Gyllenhaal was really a pleasure to watch throughout the movie, and while I’m not generally much into thrillers, I’ll say if this is a genre you enjoy, I absolutely do recommend Zodiac.
