"Se7en" (1995)
A Film Review by Jason Wallis
"Se7en" * * * * Starring Morgen Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey, R. Lee Ermey and Richard Roundtree Directed by David Fincher
It is very rare that you find a good serial killer flick. The only one I can think of is "Silence of the Lambs" (of course, I haven't seen "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" as of yet). Whenever someone tries to make one intelligently, they end up failing miserably (just look at the crap-fest that is "Copycat").
This is exactly why David Fincher's masterpiece "Se7en" is so refreshing. Lately, America has been bombarded with immature slasher flicks that disguise themselves as "thrillers". Each one is exactly the same: more guts, more gore, more horny teenagers, etc. Well, "Se7en" definently derveres being called a thriller because (gasp!) it actually thrills.
When talking about how great this film is, the first thing that springs to mind is the performances. We all know Morgen Freeman is one of the better actors of the 90s. It seems that each film he makes is better than the last. In 1994, with "The Shawshank Redemption", he delivered one of the most brilliant performance I have seen since the early days of Jack Nicholson. And it is safe to say that in "Se7en", he gives his best effort yet. High praise should also be given to Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey for their also-excellent performances. I mean, I was shocked that Brad could actually act (but, I guess he proved that with "12 Monkeys", didn't he?).
Then there's the story. Freeman plays Lieutenant Somerset, a super-intelligent (I mean, the guy plays chess, hangs out in libraries and falls asleep to a metradome!), world-weary, Dante-reading detective, tired of all the crime and suffering that surrounds him every day. With his retirement only a week or so away, he plans to move out to the country, work on his house, and do everything else you can't do in a big city.
Fairly early on (about five minutes, actually), Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) enters the picture. Mills is a cocky little bastard who thinks he knows everything just because he worked Homicide five years upstate. So, naturally, Somerset does not take an instant liking to him.
The two are called to the scene of a grisly crime: a very obesse man has been found dead in his kitchen, apparently force-fed to death. The cops seem to think it was just some crazy guy who wanted to torture poor ol' porky to death. But after another body is found, murdered in equally bizarre fashion, the two detectives discover that the killings are connected and are the work of a serial killer, bent on murdering according to the seven deadly sins (which, by the way, are gluttany, greed, sloth, lust, pride, envy and wrath). As Somerset says, "You can expect five more."
But "Se7en" does not turn out the way you think it is going to. And, despite what some people say, it is not just an excuse to show bizarre deaths. On the contrary, it is a truly superb film, easily one of the best to be released in the past ten years.
However, there are many people who will not want to see this movie. Tho the violence is not too graphic, the subject matter is extremely disturbing. I mean, this is the kind of film that could totally jar your psyche. But if you have the stomache to take it, "Se7en" is one of the greatest films of the 90s and also one of my favorites (I'm talking top ten or twenty here). I give it one of my highest recommendations.
Check out Jason Wallis' Filmaholics Anonymous web page at http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Boulevard/7475
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