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Zodiac (film)
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Zodiac is a 2007 American film about a San Francisco cartoonist who becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer.
Directed by David Fincher. Written by James Vanderbilt, based on the 1986 non-fiction book of the same name by Robert Graysmith.
There's more than one way to lose your life to a killer.taglines
Robert Graysmith
I … I need to know who he is. I … I need to stand there, I need to look him in the eye, and I need to know that it's him.
Zodiac
[On phone] I wanna report a double murder. If you go one mile east on Columbus Parkway, to a public park, you'll find kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year. Goodbye.
[Codified letter] I like killing people because it is so much fun. It is more fun than killing wild game in the forest, because man is the most dangerous animal of all. To kill something is the most thrilling experience. It is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl. The best part of it is that when I die, I will be reborn in paradise and all that I have killed will become my slaves. I will not give you my name because you will try to slow down or stop my collecting of slaves for my afterlife.
Dialogue
Robert Graysmith: Does anybody ever call me names?
Paul Avery: What, you mean like "retard"?
Robert Graysmith: Yeah.
Paul Avery: No.
Dave Toschi: What's that?
Sherwood Morrill: Similarities in the lowercase "r"s.
Dave Toschi: And that?
Sherwood Morrill: It is you waiting in the hall if you speak again. I have to concentrate.
Dave Toschi: Sorry.
Sherwood Morrill: "Sorry" counts as speaking.
[Outside in hall]
Dave Toschi: There are similarities in the lowercase "r"s.
Robert Graysmith: Does he think that Zodiac's gonna send another code? 'Cause I think Zodiac's gonna send another code.
Paul Avery: Jesus Harold Christ on rubber crutches, Bobby, what are you doing? You're doing that thing. The thing that we discussed, the thing that I don't like, starts with an L.
Robert Graysmith: Oh, looming.
Paul Avery: Yeah.
Paul Avery: Okay, this can no longer be ignored. [points at Graysmith's drink, which is blue] What is that you're drinking?
Robert Graysmith: It's an Aqua Velva. You wouldn't make fun of it if you tried it.
[Avery helps himself to a sip; cut to six blue drinks later]
Robert Graysmith: But who actually cracked the code?
Robert Graysmith: Everything in the letter already appears in the article.
Paul Avery: Yep. And he's done it before. [pulls out a newspaper article] Officer Richard Raditech, shot sitting in a parked car.
Robert Graysmith: Zodiac claimed he shot someone in their car.
Paul Avery: Yeah, a couple days after this article came out. Zodiac didn't do it, but he took credit for it anyway, because he's in it for the press.
Robert Graysmith: How can someone who's killed thirteen people …
Paul Avery: He claims he killed thirteen people, but which ones can we actually confirm? There's three in Vallejo, one in Berryessa, the cabbie, that's it.
[Graysmith looks confused]
Paul Avery: Bobby, you almost look disappointed.
Paul Avery: Hey Bullitt, it's been almost a year. You gonna catch this fuckin' guy or not?
Dave Toschi: Go fuck yourself!
Paul Avery: Gladly.
Dave Toschi: Hey, how do we know that this lead is real?
Inspector William Armstrong: It's very real. How do I know? Because I saw it on television.
"Suspect": I'm the Zodiac.
Inspector William Armstrong: And how did you kill your victims?
"Suspect": With a gun. No … with a hammer.
[Avery storms out the boss' office]
Robert Graysmith: Paul?
Paul Avery: Yeah.
Robert Graysmith: What was that?
Paul Avery: Uh, an editorial tête-à-tête. Wanna grab a drink?
Robert Graysmith: It's ten in the morning.
Paul Avery: Late breakfast? Early lunch, or …
Robert Graysmith: Paul. Are you okay?
Paul Avery: … No. Thank you for asking.
Robert Graysmith: I've been thinking.
Paul Avery: Yeah?
Robert Graysmith: Somebody should write a book.
Paul Avery: Somebody should write a fucking book, that's for sure. About what?
Robert Graysmith: About Zodiac. I've been thinking, if you put all the information together, maybe you could jog something loose. And then I thought, who better than you? I mean, you know all the players, and you have all of the files.
Paul Avery: Yeah, I lost them.
Robert Graysmith: You lost them?
Paul Avery: Or I tossed them. I don't know, I moved onto a boat.
Robert Graysmith: Just because you can't prove it doesn't mean it isn't true.
Dave Toschi: Easy, Dirty Harry.
Taglines
There's more than one way to lose your life to a killer.
When a series of murders terrorized California, one man took responsibility for them all.
Based on the true story of America's most notorious serial killer.
Cast
Jake Gyllenhaal - Robert Graysmith
Mark Ruffalo - SFPD Inspector David Toschi
Robert Downey, Jr. - Paul Avery
Anthony Edwards - SFPD Inspector William Armstrong
Brian Cox - Melvin Belli
Elias Koteas - Sgt. Jack Mulanax
Donal Logue - Ken Narlow
John Carroll Lynch - Arthur Leigh Allen
Dermot Mulroney - Captain Marty Lee
Philip Baker Hall - Sherwood Morrill
Chloë Sevigny - Melanie Graysmith
John Getz - Templeton Peck
John Terry - Charles Thieriot
Adam Goldberg as Duffy Jennings
External links
0443706 Zodiac
Category:2007 films
Category:2000s American films
Category:American drama films
Category:Films based on non-fiction books
Category:Films based on true stories
Category:Films about journalists
Category:Films set in San Francisco
Category:Films about serial killers
Category:Mystery films
Category:Epic films
Category:Neo-noir
Category:Films directed by David Fincher
Category:Films set in the 1960s
Category:Films set in the 1970s