Superb Thriller Marred by Brad Pitt's Awful Acting

Rating: 8/10 (23 February 2011)

Comparisons to The Silence of the Lambs (SotL) are apt: this film is directed with all of the skill and taut suspense of that earlier masterpiece. Se7en, like all of Hitchcock's best films, and like the fore-mentioned SotL, builds tension through suggestion and atmosphere. There is very little actual violence or gore in the film, but what is SUGGESTED is horrifying. The cinematography is superb: the film almost physically feels dirty and grimy. Darkness pervades all, and by the end of the film I had the doors all locked and felt a curious urge to bathe myself, to scrub off the filthiness and evil that is omni-prevalent in the film. It knows the creepiness of silence and emptiness, and the scariest portions of the film are usually also the most uneventful. The score is good and matches the visuals nicely. The acting is almost perfect: the background roles all do their job well, Morgan Freeman is convincing as a seasoned and cynical investigator, and Keven Spacey is brilliant as the unhinged, moralizing serial killer. Brad Pitt, however, is an awful actor, and he is the one thing I found really wrong with this film. Actually, most of the movie he was adequate but irritating: I just accepted that the character is supposed to be cocky and irritating as well and moved on. But the ending... let's just say Brad Pitt almost ruins what is one of the most shocking endings in cinematic history with his inability to act. Otherwise, the film is nearly perfect, but because Pitt's acting broke my immersion in the film during the climax, I can only award it eight out of ten stars. Hopefully people will learn to keep him far away from roles that require any actual acting.