Se7en (David Fincher, 1995): USA

Reviewed by Charles Hedrick. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

The movie “Se7en” is another disturbing film from director David Fincher. While this film was disturbing a gross at times it is undeniably an excellent film that every lover of the crime and thriller genres cannot miss. This film has excellent cinematography, a plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat, and like David Fincher’s other films, such as Fight Club, there is a twist at the end. However, while all of these aspects of the film were good, Brad Pitt’s acting seemed much weaker than in his other films, such as Fight Club. However while Pitt’s acting was not as good as his acting in Fight Club, Morgan Freeman was able to pick up the pieces with his terrific performance.

This Film follows Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt), a rookie detective, and Detective Lt. Williams Somerset (Morgan Freeman), a detective whom is about to retire, in their first and last case together. The case begins with a string of gruesome murders that Mills and Somerset soon link to the seven deadly sins of Catholicism (lust, envy, greed, sloth, wrath, pride, and gluttony). During the course of the investigation the two detectives slowly become friends and learn to respect one another.

An example of this films good cinematography would be the scene where Mills is chasing a suspect through an apartment building. The way the cinematographer, Darius Khondji, was able to use the lighting at all times to make sure that the distinctive shadows would work together with the fleeing suspect, to give him a mysterious touch, is truly a spectacle. Another good aspect of this film is the plot, and the way it was able to keep the whole theaters attention throughout the whole movie, by this I mean there was no shuffling around, no whispering, etc. Also I cannot forget to mention the twist at the end was a good finishing touch. However the one unfortunate thing about this film is that Pitt’s performance could not quite keep up with Freeman’s. This imbalance made it so that most of the time the audience would care alot more for Freeman’s character than for Pitt’s.

While this film may not have been as good as Fight Club, it is still an excellent movie that should still be considered one of Fincher’s better movies. I would suggest this movie to anyone who wants to enjoy a good story, good camera work, and does not mind a little bit of disturbing imagery.

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Published:
02.04.09 / 1pm
Category:
Films, Santa Barbara Film Festival 2009