Good movie about the Zodiac killer, but requires patience to watch.

Rating: Null/10 (12 August 2007)

It is a fact that a serial killer, who became known as the Zodiac killer, was active on and off in California in the 1960s and the 1970s. He seemed to just take pleasure in killing people, and communicated actively in code and via phone calls to the media and the police. When the various police departments seemed to give up on ever solving the mystery of the killer's identity, a San Francisco newspaper cartoonist who liked to solve puzzles just couldn't give up. It became his obsession, causing problems with his relationships and his job.
Jake Gyllenhaal is fine as the cartoonist Robert Graysmith. Other fine actors include Mark Ruffalo as Inspector David Toschi, Anthony Edwards as Inspector William Armstrong, and Robert Downey Jr. as newspaper reporter Paul Avery. Brian Cox has a small but important part as famous attorney Melvin Belli. Chloë Sevigny is Melanie who becomes Robert's love interest and eventually his wife.
The movie is very well done, but at almost 2 1/2 hours, and little action, it takes a bit of patience to watch. However it is a good movie.
SPOILERS. The Zodiac killer was never identified positively. Through the movie we see the prime suspect, Lee or Leigh, several times. The evidence was plenty and strong but circumstantial, until a lone survivor from 1969 identified him in a photo lineup, years after the attack. But Lee died of a heart attack shortly after and the identity of the Zodiac killer remains officially unresolved.