This film I had high hopes for the subject matter and the cast were very interesting but yes there is a big BUT the cast apart from Salma Hayek were very poor they were dull and very uninteresting but when it came on to the killers leto was ok Salma Hayek was outstanding if i was scoring the film on just her performance it would be 5 she was excellent she stole the screen from them all she got her character down to a tea was superb to watch and so believeable was honestly fab sadly the way the people put the story together they did not concentrate on the killers escapades they focused more on the boring cop bits which were dull to say the least and repeated the same story and script!! if you want a slow annoying film this is it but it is worth watching for salma if nothing else I feel this is her best role ever!

Despite a,at times,somewhat wayward script we both enjoyed this film.It certainly helps that it has such a good cast,but it also has a good sense of time and place and recreates the late '40's early '50's very convincingly.Jared Leto and Salma Hayek are the real stars of the film as the murderous couple who prey on women through the Lonely Hearts ads.Hayek is frighteningly real as the possessive Martha and Leto is equally convincing as the sleazily weak yet violent Ray.She is driven to murder through a form of twisted love,he more because he is afraid of her and because he wants the money.Travolta and Gandolfini are almost as good,Travolta especially as the tormented detective haunted by his wife's suicide.
Good direction too.There were a couple of times where I was second-guessing the outcome of a scene,expecting the usual,lazy,cliche,only to be confounded.But it is the script that stops this being great rather than good.Although it is clever and interesting it tries at times for too much.Having said that,it's a better script than most and I'd recommend this film to anyone who's looking for something a little more emotionally engaging than your average Hollywood by the numbers thriller.It's got a good script,interesting characters who're given enough time to develop,and is nicely shot with a good eye for detail.I would add,though,that it is not for the weak of heart because several scenes are genuinely disturbing,although not gratuitously.If you enjoyed Zodiac I think you'll enjoy this.