It's hard to imagine that Se7en first came out 14 years ago as it still, to me, one of the best pyschological thrillers in film and one that all the recent decent cop/ thriller films should look to as a standard setter. This film helped launch David Fincher's career as a director before he went on to direct Fight Club (1999), Panic Room (2002) and Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008 - see one of my earlier reviews for this brilliant film). Yes, it seems he does like working with Brad Pitt!
Se7en is set in a crime ridden US city and stars Morgan Freeman as the weathered and retiring detective William Somerset, Brad Pitt as the new keen recruit David Mills and Gwyneth Paltrow as Pitt's wife (most of you will know that they were a real-life couple during this time also). The film throws us into the deep end straight and we are confronted with a victim that has been forced to eat himself to death. Next we have another grisley murder for the detectives to investigate and not before long is it that they realise that this is the work of a serial killer. The twist behind these killings is that the victims are guilty of one of the seven deadly sins: Sloth, Greed, Wrath, Envy, Lust, Pride and Gluttony, and thus they are killed in that manner (i.e. man who eats himself to death = gluttony).
I thoroughly enjoyed this film when i first watched it years ago and i still do now. The chemistry between Pitt and Freeman is very good and it is worthy of each of their legendary statuses. This is probably the best film that Morgan Freeman has done without him having to commentate!
However, the person that steals the show for me is Kevin Spacey, fresh out of the Usual Suspects; he shows a character with no remorse or sympathy. His articulate yet cold blooded and pessimistic life has led him towards this self imposed 'god given' mission that he has to do for the world. He believes truely and deeply in what he has done and that he has been asked to do this by a 'higher power'. Despite only appearing in the film late on, his performance is mesmorising and makes his John Doe character worthy of Anthony Hopkins-Hannibal Lecter status.
A truely dampened and semi-gothic feel to this film, it's not meant to be uplifting but simply a tale of a depressing city and the pyschos that inhabit it. The detective's chase and journey is brilliantly orchestrated by Fincher right up until the twisted climax that leaves everyone on the edge of their seat guessing.
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Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Brad Pitt ('Legends Of The Fall)' and Academy Award-nominee Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank ... more
Redemption') star in this sinister and gripping mystery-thriller about a pair of homicide detectives who must solve a puzzling series of horrific murders based on...
Advantages: Great directing, camerawork, mood, characters...just about everything really Disadvantages: Not for those who like happy endings or have an optimistic disposition
dreamstar70 04.01.2001 ·
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Review of Seven (DVD)
Advantages: Great acting, Gripping, Shocking, Macabre directing Disadvantages: Some unconvincing acting, Plot could have been developed more, Silly title
srtom 16.06.2004 (16.06.2004)
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Review of Seven (DVD)
Jun 17th, 2009
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