Review of Se7en (1995) by Shane S — 13 Dec 2017

"I'm setting the example. What I've done is going to be puzzled over and studied and followed... forever." Is an interesting line delivered at a major moment of revelation in Seven. I think its an interesting reflection of the movie itself too.

I am not sure there is anything terribly sophisticated about Seven. There does not have to be for a good crime thriller to really work. I find when you describe this movie coldly and descriptively it all seems a little banal. There's an odd couple pairing of detectives, played by two pretty wonderful actors. The grizzled cop about to retire, who has spent a little too long in the game. The fresh, young and careless rookie, out to make a name for himself. Morgan Freeman is so perfectly that veteran with a commanding and ominous presence. Brad Pitt also works well as the rookie.

This film is also set against the most obvious of thriller settings, a relentlessly dark city, always raining or about to. A color scheme that never managed to lift its brush too far from grey.

There's some unique visceral imagery, the "kills" are haunting and troubling. Some are showed more than we want. Others I, frankly, wish I knew more, as the imagination is sometimes so much worse. Then there is the big reveal of our monster. Oh and what a reveal, what a commanding performance. Brief, menacing and psychologically domineering.

If you stop to think about this movie it is all a little preposterous, but who would? You are so busy taking it all in. You cannot really stop to pick apart the problems.

I wrote through this dry shopping list of descriptors trying to work out what worked about the movie, a standard list of crime cliches it seems. Doing this exercise, I sort of realized what Seven reminded me of. It is a well done painting. If you strip it all down it is really predictable brush strokes and common themes. But it sings. It puzzles, and it draws you in for study. It's a masterful cop buddy piece. It is the right measure of brutality and imagination. The twists work. The reveal works. It works.

This movie reminds us why we have a conception of a script or formula for certain movies. Thrillers have things we've come to expect, the same can be said of every genre. Seven reminds you why this is the archetype for these movies. When you put the strokes together just right, it is really something to behold.