"This isn't going to have a happy ending."

Rating: 10/10 (23 June 2009)

"If we catch John Doe and he turns out to be the devil, I mean if he's Satan himself, that might live up to our expectations, but he's not the devil. He's just a man." – Detective Somerset
Seven days. Seven deadly sins. Seven murders. Someone has a message and wants to be heard loud and clear. It's up to seasoned detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and cocky newcomer David Mills (Brad Pitt) to track down the killer, who in the end, proves to be anything but ordinary and routine.
Directed by David Fincher ("Fight Club") and drawn from a script by Andrew Kevin Walker ("8mm"), "Se7en" is perhaps one of the most unsettling, most gruesome and most unforgettable thrillers to come from the 90's. Giving even "The Silence of the Lambs" a run for its money, Fincher's film is chock full of moody atmosphere and gloomy set-pieces. Rarely do the two detectives stumble into a brightly lit room, and the rain that plagues their non-descript, crime-filled city refuses to let up until the killer is revealed. Coming off of the troubled production that was "Alien 3," Fincher was given a second shot, and with this film, defines a style all his own that had been plagiarized to death by the turn of the century. The cinematography and ambient direction are fresh for its time and hold up today – at fourteen years old, the film still looks stunning – and serves up a truly unique experience. The world created in this film may be too much to stomach for some, as it shows humanity at its worst with a serial killer who considers himself a hero, a savior even. Occasionally the film breaks for some slight situational humor that only serves to further humanize our two main leads, but for the most part, it's a wholly disturbing and gut-wrenching experience, right down to the final reveal of the killer and the inescapable ending.
In a way, "Se7en" could be seen as the anti-"Lethal Weapon" -- A buddy-cop comedy without the comedy or the buddies. Instead, our well-worn pro, just six days from retirement, has been beaten down and drained by the world he lives in and is only leaving the job to salvage what humanity is left inside of himself. The arrogant new guy is fueled by past successes and a hunger for action that perhaps his older counterpart once had but tragically lost. The shocking ending only serves to juxtapose the two characters. Morgan Freeman is solid as always, while Brad Pitt overacts the part just a hair. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Pitt's wife sweet and as human as possible, while Kevin Spacey has a role in this film that can only be described as iconic. With a great cast under the brilliant direction of a budding, young and talented director, "Se7en" is as close to perfection as the horror/thriller genre gets.