Who Framed The Zodiac Killer?
I watched Zodiac last night with my parents and finished by myself because they had to go back to our house (I was pet-watching in Clarksburg...a nowhere town on the border of MoCo and Frederick County. Let's just say that Frommer's isn' going to waste much time on Clarksburg.) To say that it is a long movie is a bit of an understatement, as it feels as though it's about 5 hours long, but it comes in at about 150 minutes. Maybe it's because I'm fascinated by all things serial killer or because of the stellar cast, but I really loved Zodiac. Not until the end, though. It sneaks up on you...the last 45 minutes are fast-paced and kind of scary. Not many people would call it David Fincher's best film to date (I would), but they'd have to admit what a skilled and thorough job he's done at adapting Graysmith's book to screen.
The highlight of the film, though, comes toward the end. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Robert Graysmith, a cartoonist for the San Francisco Tribune that becomes obsessed with the Zodiac murders. I feel his pain because I'm a bit obsessed with Zodiac myself...I wouldn't let it ruin two of my marriages,but I'd have been very interested in the killings had I been there. Graysmith is looking into a guy named Rick Harris being Zodiac because of some handwriting on a poster that nearly matched the Zodiac's handwriting. So, he visits Harris' friend Bob Vaughn to ask about the posters. This is probably the creepiest scene in the movie...but when you see it and you realize that the guy playing Bob Vaughn is also Roger Rabbit, the scene becomes a little less effective.
Seriously, though...if I'm going to cast a movie about a serial killer (I'm not saying Bob Vaughn was the Zodiac in the film. He's not.) I'm hiring Charles Fliescher, the voice of Roger Rabbit, based on looks alone. He's probably the creepiest looking guy I've seen in a movie in a long time. To say that he is ugly would be going to far. He's not ugly....but he does look like he has 42 bodies hidden in a secret room in his basement. Maybe two of them are Bob Hoskins' and Christopher Lloyd's careers. What did those two do after Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. Not a whole lot, with the exception of two Back to the Future sequels. Cinematic gems, both of them.
The highlight of the film, though, comes toward the end. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Robert Graysmith, a cartoonist for the San Francisco Tribune that becomes obsessed with the Zodiac murders. I feel his pain because I'm a bit obsessed with Zodiac myself...I wouldn't let it ruin two of my marriages,but I'd have been very interested in the killings had I been there. Graysmith is looking into a guy named Rick Harris being Zodiac because of some handwriting on a poster that nearly matched the Zodiac's handwriting. So, he visits Harris' friend Bob Vaughn to ask about the posters. This is probably the creepiest scene in the movie...but when you see it and you realize that the guy playing Bob Vaughn is also Roger Rabbit, the scene becomes a little less effective.
Seriously, though...if I'm going to cast a movie about a serial killer (I'm not saying Bob Vaughn was the Zodiac in the film. He's not.) I'm hiring Charles Fliescher, the voice of Roger Rabbit, based on looks alone. He's probably the creepiest looking guy I've seen in a movie in a long time. To say that he is ugly would be going to far. He's not ugly....but he does look like he has 42 bodies hidden in a secret room in his basement. Maybe two of them are Bob Hoskins' and Christopher Lloyd's careers. What did those two do after Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. Not a whole lot, with the exception of two Back to the Future sequels. Cinematic gems, both of them.