|
| William Armstrong | .... | consultant: Inspector, San Francisco Police Dept. (ret. ) |
| Mark Arneson | .... | private investigator |
| George Bawart | .... | technical advisor: Detective, Vallejo Police Dept. (ret. ) |
| Gretchen Belli | .... | consultant (as Gretchen Belli and the Belli Family) |
| Pierre Bidou | .... | consultant: Chief of Police, Benicia Police Dept. (ret. ) |
| Lennie Bleecher | .... | assistant: Mark Ruffalo |
| Leanne Boyce | .... | accounting assistant |
| Lisa Breitman | .... | adr loop group |
| Robby D. Bruce | .... | ADR loop group |
| Shelbie Bruce | .... | ADR loop group |
| Robert D. Brugger | .... | set medic (as Robert Brugger) |
| Doug Burch | .... | adr voice |
| Russell T. Butterbach | .... | consultant: Sergeant, Solano County Sheriff (ret. ) |
| Michael Butterfield | .... | consultant |
| Brad Carr | .... | research assistant: San Francisco |
| Kelly Carroll | .... | consultant: Inspector, San Francisco Police Dept. |
| John Cefalu | .... | location manager |
| Tada Chae | .... | research intern |
| Donald Cheney | .... | consultant |
| Joseph M. Chiechi | .... | staff assistant (as Joseph Chiechi) |
| Brian Clark | .... | rigging medic |
| Scott Cler | .... | assistant production coordinator |
| David Collins | .... | consultant: Detective Sergeant, Napa County Sheriff (ret. ) |
| Roy Conway | .... | consultant: Captain, Vallejo Police Dept. (ret. ) |
| Don DiStefano | .... | consultant: Sergeant, Vallejo Police Dept. (ret. ) |
| Scott Dropkin | .... | sparrow head technician |
| Jim Dunbar | .... | consultant |
| Brent Ekstrand | .... | video and computer engineer |
| Scott Fitzgerald | .... | key assistant location manager |
| Donald Fouke | .... | consultant: Sergeant Inspector, San Francisco Police Dept. (ret. ) |
| Aaron Graysmith | .... | consultant |
| Margot Graysmith | .... | consultant |
| Melanie Graysmith | .... | consultant |
| Robert Graysmith | .... | technical advisor |
| Nicole Greely | .... | consultant: Lieutenant, San Francisco Police Dept. |
| Thomas L. Gunderson | .... | head animal trainer |
| Shepard Hall | .... | staff assistant |
| Marc A. Hammer | .... | production office coordinator |
| Daryl Anthony Harper | .... | adr loop artist |
| Amanda Harrington | .... | staff assistant |
| Benjamin Hartnell | .... | consultant |
| Bryan C. Hartnell | .... | technical advisor |
| Jonathan Hartnell | .... | consultant |
| Monica Hartnell | .... | consultant |
| David Henri | .... | computer/video operator |
| Richard Hoffman | .... | consultant: Detective, Vallejo Police Dept. (ret. ) |
| Pam Huckaby | .... | consultant |
| David Emerson Jackson | .... | consultant: Captain, Vallejo Police Dept. (as David Jackson) |
| Mark Jacyszyn | .... | production supervisor: Captive Audience Prod. |
| Saisie M. Jang | .... | assistant location manager: San Francisco |
| Holly Kang | .... | assistant: David Fincher |
| Michael Kelleher | .... | consultant |
| Kristine Kelly | .... | script supervisor (as Kristy Kelly) |
| Cosmos Kiindarius | .... | staff assistant |
| Jim Knell | .... | assistant: MUFX producer |
| Meti Kusari | .... | craft service |
| Eric Ladd | .... | title design |
| Derrick Landry | .... | assistant production accountant |
| Kevin Landry | .... | production accountant (as Kevin E. Landry) |
| Teri Lang | .... | production secretary: San Francisco |
| Tammy S. Lee | .... | staff assistant (as Tammy Lee) |
| Chris Lerude | .... | hands double |
| Richard Lonergan | .... | consultant: Under-Sheriff, Napa County Sheriff (ret. ) |
| Stephen Mapel | .... | location manager (as Steve Mapel) |
| Tim Marion | .... | assistant: Mike Medavoy |
| Jadi McCurdy | .... | staff assistant |
| Kyle McGatlin | .... | production secretary |
| Douglas McKay | .... | assistant to Mr. Medavoy |
| Andrea McKee | .... | staff assistant |
| Gerald McMenamin | .... | consultant |
| Ken Narlow | .... | technical advisor: Captain, Napa County Sheriff (ret. ) |
| Ryan Neely | .... | production assistant |
| Cindy Nevins | .... | payroll accountant |
| Melvin H. Nicolai | .... | consultant: Special Agent, Dept. of Justice (ret. ) |
| Jason Ninness | .... | production coordinator: Phoenix Pictures |
| Bill Oaks | .... | assistant accountant |
| Peter K. Orr | .... | armorer |
| Sandy Panzarella | .... | consultant |
| Terrence Pascoe | .... | consultant |
| Valarie Payne | .... | assistant: Jake Gyllenhaal (as Valerie Payne) |
| Armond Pelissetti | .... | technical advisor: Sergeant Inspector, San Francisco Police Dept. (ret. ) |
| Jeremiah Pitman | .... | staff assistant |
| Neal Prosansky | .... | staff assistant |
| Ron Puckett | .... | assistant: Arnie Messer |
| Lorraine Putnam | .... | animal wrangler |
| Michael Renault Mageau | .... | consultant |
| Shawn Renee-Cadichon | .... | assistant: Bradley Fischer |
| Jimmy Rich | .... | assistant: Robert Downey Jr. |
| Matthew Riutta | .... | assistant location manager: San Francisco |
| John Robertson | .... | consultant: Captain, Napa County Sheriff (ret. ) |
| Mike Rodelli | .... | consultant |
| Deandre 'Silky' Russell | .... | staff assistant (as DeAndre Russell) |
| Ed Rust | .... | consultant: Lieutenant, Vallejo Police Dept. (ret. ) |
| Caren Sachs | .... | assistant: Kelley Smith-Wait |
| Janine Schiro | .... | second assistant accountant |
| Jim Schiro | .... | key second assistant accountant |
| Bruce Schluter | .... | title designer |
| Richard Schuler | .... | location manager (as Rick Schuler) |
| Derek Schweickart | .... | data capture assistant |
| Jonathan Shedd | .... | location manager: San Francisco |
| David Slaight | .... | consultant: Commander, Napa County Sheriff (ret. ) |
| Nancy Slover | .... | consultant: Vallejo Police Dept. (ret. ) |
| David Smith | .... | consultant |
| Hal Snook | .... | consultant: Sergeant, Napa County Sheriff (ret. ) |
| Gene Starzenski | .... | rigging medic |
| Jerremy Stewart | .... | production assistant |
| Paula Stier | .... | assistant production coordinator: re-shoots |
| Todd Stolarski | .... | staff assistant |
| Leo Suennan | .... | consultant |
| Jason Suhrke | .... | technocrane assistant |
| Candice Taylor | .... | assistant: Cean Chaffin |
| Wayne Tidwell | .... | supervising engineer (as Wayne R. Tidwell) |
| David Toschi | .... | technical advisor: Inspector, San Francisco Police Dept. (ret. ) |
| Andreas Wacker | .... | digital workflow specialist |
| Nancy Wong | .... | key assistant location manager: San Francisco |
| Kirk Worley | .... | assistant location manager |
| Joe Biggins | .... | inflatable mannequins (uncredited) |
| Robert Boas | .... | i/o support (uncredited) |
| Rich Bokides | .... | film runner (uncredited) |
| Lucie Bourgeau | .... | office staff assistant: re-shoots (uncredited) |
| Ritchie Steven Filippi | .... | set staff assistant: re-shoots (uncredited) |
| James Groh | .... | stand-in (uncredited) |
| Marcy Guiragossian | .... | set production assistant: San Francisco (uncredited) |
| Sean Hackett | .... | development intern (uncredited) |
| Seth William Hansen | .... | set staff assistant: re-shoots (uncredited) |
| Travis Huff | .... | production assistant (uncredited) |
| Dalon Huntington | .... | stand-in: Donal Logue (uncredited) |
| William P. Kelly | .... | stand-in (uncredited) |
| Kenneth Ko | .... | production assistant (uncredited) |
| Tony McNitt | .... | staff assistant (uncredited) |
| Timothy Meehan | .... | staff assistant (uncredited) |
| Aimee Pierson | .... | staff assistant (uncredited) |
| Barry Ratcliffe | .... | stand-in (uncredited) |
| Lisa Russey | .... | staff assistant (uncredited) |
| Brian Sampson | .... | stand-in (uncredited) |
| Gregory Santoro | .... | set staff assistant: re-shoots (uncredited) |
| Yovel Schwartz | .... | staff assistant (uncredited) |
| John H. Tobin | .... | photo double (uncredited) |
| Mike Tsucalas | .... | set staff assistant: re-shoots (uncredited) |
| |
"Zodiac" may frustrate viewers who come to David Fincher's latest film expecting a traditional serial killer thriller. The film begins with a couple of hair-raising and rather brutal recreations of murders carried out by the mysterious killer who terrorized the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These early scenes are shocking and, compared to the rest of the film, disorienting, because they offer the only time that we come close to seeing events from the killer's perspective. As the film progresses, the Zodiac killer himself fades into the background, and the movie turns into a meticulous and engrossing document of the investigation to track him down, an investigation that includes countless blind alleys and false clues and which to this day has not reached a conclusion. I would be more prone to label the somewhat rambling screenplay as sloppy storytelling if I did not feel that Fincher tells the story exactly as he wants to. The elusive narrative works, because the film is about an elusive villain.
Jake Gyllenhaal plays Robert Graysmith, a cartoonist working for the "San Francisco Chronicle" at the time the Zodiac killer began his gruesome work. He becomes fascinated by the case, and takes it on as a sort of morbid personal hobby long after the police department has given it up as a lost cause. Graysmith eventually wrote the book on which this film is based, and according to his accounts, he discovered enough evidence about one of the suspects in the case to put the police back on his trail years after he'd been cleared for lack of evidence. Other characters come and go. Robert Downey, Jr. does characteristically terrific work as a reporter at the "Chronicle" who grabs his own portion of notoriety through his involvement in the case. Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards play the two detectives in charge of the investigation. Chloe Sevigny plays Gyllenhaal's put-upon wife, who gradually loses her husband to his obsession. All of the actors deliver thrilling performances, many of them against the odds. Since this isn't a character driven movie, many of the characters remain undeveloped, but not, for once, to the detriment of the film. This story isn't about the people involved, but rather about their role in the Zodiac saga; once they've served their purpose, Fincher dispenses with them. Ironically, a film that clocks in at nearly 3 hours exhibits a great deal of narrative economy.
Parts of "Zodiac" are intensely creepy. Fincher effectively uses the rainy San Francisco atmosphere to its maximum potential, and the grimy browns and grays of the production design call to mind Fincher's other well-known films, like "Seven" and "Fight Club." But "Zodiac" is much more grown up than those films, and for an audience to enjoy it, it has to have an attention span. Long scenes are given to analyzing handwriting samples, recreating the scenes of murders, digging through newspaper clippings and files. You can tell that Fincher is fascinated by police work in the pre-CSI era, when fax machines were still a novel invention. He delves into the investigative process with a nearly fetishistic attention to detail, but he makes all of it endlessly mesmerizing. He does his best to bring everything to some sort of conclusion, but the real-life end to the story makes a complete conclusion impossible. This film is more about the journey than the destination, and what a journey it is.
Grade: A