Seven (1995) 9 out of 10: David Fincher's premiere film as a feature film director after years of making music videos is a masterpiece. Meticulously detailed and layered to the point that multiple viewings give even greater pleasures and currently occupying a spot in the IMDB top 20 movies of all time. Hold on someone has their hand up in the back... what's that? Alien 3? ... there was no Alien 3. There were only two Alien movies: Alien and Aliens. If you recall, at the end of Aliens Ripley, Bishop, Newt and Hicks all escape and live happily ever after. So obviously Seven is David Fincher's first film. Understood.
The Good: this is truly finely crafted film and like an onion has many layers. To dissect the onion will simply destroy it and leave everyone crying so to preserve what I can of writer Andrew Kevin Walker mystery let me tell you my pet theory.
I think the movie takes place in purgatory. It is truly a dark dirty miserable place (even for the mid-nineties). Every location seems flawed in some way, never to be properly clean and lit. The characters are also flawed. Brad Pitt is quick to violence and quite the obnoxious hot head in some scenes. Morgan Freeman seems to be playing the same character he has been playing the last twenty -five years. But there is hidden depth in this one. Some regrets and some cold calculations. He is seven days from retirement but this being purgatory the real fear is not he will be killed like every single movie cop seven days from retirement in the entire history of movies. No, the real fear is he will never be able to retire at all and one day will simply blend into another.
Both leads do a bang-up job with characters that seem like they fit exactly in their wheelhouse but as I note above with Freeman have a little more depth than it appears at first glance (or even first viewing of the film.) Seven has a deliberate pace that can lull one without ever seeming boring. While the cycle of downtime and investigation seems fairly well set there are a couple of surprises that topple the apple cart and keep the audience on its toes. The calm deliberate pace, of course, make the surprises all that more effective.
Our bad guy like many of the surprises in the film are well known at this time. The movie does do a great job hiding him, however (Though his killing a drug dealer because he was also a pederast gets a second glance nowadays considering.) The big bads plan involving the seven deadly sins (gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, pride, lust, and envy for those keeping score at home) may seem overdone to modern audiences but it was fresh stuff when this movie came out. Movies like the Saw series crib heavily from Seven.
The Mediocre: There is nothing really bad in Seven. There are some things however that are mediocre. I like Gwyneth Paltrow but despite a significant amount of screen time she never makes an impression. She is just kind of there saying her lines. There is no emotional connection to the audience. In other words, she is Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca.
A couple of sins get short shrift in the movie. Pride, in particular, seems truncated and sloth's victim seems... well unslothful. (I mean the guy is both a scummy drug dealer and a pederast? He is multitasking over here. Why not get someone who marathons those judge shows on daytime television and then orders takeout.)
The Ugly: Having a number in the middle of your name was stupid in 1995, it is stupid in 2019 and there has never been a time outside of those dates where it wasn't stupid. As Weird Al Yankovic says in that Holiday classic Word Crimes.
You should never Write words using numbers Unless you're seven Or your name is Prince
Hold on a second maybe he meant the movie Seven in those lyrics instead of the age seven as we all assumed all along... OMG, my mind is blown.
In Conclusion: If you have never seen it and especially if you have managed not to have it spoiled go check out Seven. In addition, you haven't seen it since the nineties I also recommend giving it another spin. It holds up really well and is better than you remember it.
The Good: this is truly finely crafted film and like an onion has many layers. To dissect the onion will simply destroy it and leave everyone crying so to preserve what I can of writer Andrew Kevin Walker mystery let me tell you my pet theory.
I think the movie takes place in purgatory. It is truly a dark dirty miserable place (even for the mid-nineties). Every location seems flawed in some way, never to be properly clean and lit. The characters are also flawed. Brad Pitt is quick to violence and quite the obnoxious hot head in some scenes. Morgan Freeman seems to be playing the same character he has been playing the last twenty -five years. But there is hidden depth in this one. Some regrets and some cold calculations. He is seven days from retirement but this being purgatory the real fear is not he will be killed like every single movie cop seven days from retirement in the entire history of movies. No, the real fear is he will never be able to retire at all and one day will simply blend into another.
Both leads do a bang-up job with characters that seem like they fit exactly in their wheelhouse but as I note above with Freeman have a little more depth than it appears at first glance (or even first viewing of the film.) Seven has a deliberate pace that can lull one without ever seeming boring. While the cycle of downtime and investigation seems fairly well set there are a couple of surprises that topple the apple cart and keep the audience on its toes. The calm deliberate pace, of course, make the surprises all that more effective.
Our bad guy like many of the surprises in the film are well known at this time. The movie does do a great job hiding him, however (Though his killing a drug dealer because he was also a pederast gets a second glance nowadays considering.) The big bads plan involving the seven deadly sins (gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, pride, lust, and envy for those keeping score at home) may seem overdone to modern audiences but it was fresh stuff when this movie came out. Movies like the Saw series crib heavily from Seven.
The Mediocre: There is nothing really bad in Seven. There are some things however that are mediocre. I like Gwyneth Paltrow but despite a significant amount of screen time she never makes an impression. She is just kind of there saying her lines. There is no emotional connection to the audience. In other words, she is Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca.
A couple of sins get short shrift in the movie. Pride, in particular, seems truncated and sloth's victim seems... well unslothful. (I mean the guy is both a scummy drug dealer and a pederast? He is multitasking over here. Why not get someone who marathons those judge shows on daytime television and then orders takeout.)
The Ugly: Having a number in the middle of your name was stupid in 1995, it is stupid in 2019 and there has never been a time outside of those dates where it wasn't stupid. As Weird Al Yankovic says in that Holiday classic Word Crimes.
You should never Write words using numbers Unless you're seven Or your name is Prince
Hold on a second maybe he meant the movie Seven in those lyrics instead of the age seven as we all assumed all along... OMG, my mind is blown.
In Conclusion: If you have never seen it and especially if you have managed not to have it spoiled go check out Seven. In addition, you haven't seen it since the nineties I also recommend giving it another spin. It holds up really well and is better than you remember it.