Watching the opening credits, I was really impressed by all those well-known names popping up, because I had no idea this movie even existed.. and now I know it's because it isn't that good. _Especially_ compared to the book of the same name by **Friedrich Dürrenmatt**.
Beside the mystery of how they managed to stretch out a 150 page book into a movie that is over 2 hours long (and leaving out the best scene in the book), it also suffered from the modernization and Americanisation.

**Everything that made the book intriguing for me is lost in the movie:**
- The inspector's character study.
- The professional friendship and mutual respect between the police chief and the inspector. The police chief starts to worry about his former inspector, which adds another layer to the inspector's undoing.
- The commentary on police work, vigilantism and crime fiction.

**Additionally some of the changes really irritated me:**
- The mentally disabled Native American (**Benicio del Toro**) as the suspect.
- The fact that he shoots himself, but I guess that's a must in an American adaptation.. in the book he silently hangs himself in his cell, after his forced confession.
- Was that DNA taken from the girl's body ever tested? Or compared to the suspect? Why did they purposely bring it up at the crime scene but never spoke of it again?
- The romantic entanglement between Jerry Black (**Jack Nicholson**) and Lori (**Robin Wright**). Why was that necessary?