(POSSIBLE SPOILER)...Serial killer story within a "Law and Order" format...

Rating: 6/10 (24 August 2006)

Watching SEVEN, you almost expect a beer commercial to interrupt at any moment because it's like watching a harder-edged, slightly grittier, mean streets version of LAW AND ORDER with a more experienced detective (MORGAN FREEMAN) conducting a sort of balancing act with his footloose, craving for action sidekick (BRAD PITT) wanting to get away from his desk work.
It's gritty stuff all the way through, with neon lights flashing amid grimy apartments, chases through crooked alleys and across grimy rooftops and down fire escapes that break the tension of a story whose central theme is the hunt for a serial killer intent on showing off his skill to a detective he professes to admire. As the killer, KEVIN SPACEY adopts a zombie-like pose, a flat monotone and recites his dialog with a straight face--but he's never quite believable enough in the role.
BRAD PITT spends much of the time protesting loudly against the authority figure who tries to calm him down when things get out of hand. But his final emotional scene is a challenging one and he does manage to bring the right anger, confusion and bitter resentment as he confronts the man who has played his final trick on him. He's unrestrained in this final moment and it's the kind of emotion the audience can understand at this point.
MORGAN FREEMAN, as the more restrained, experienced older partner on the brink of retirement, is excellent but his final decision to open a box (without revealing plot details here) is a questionable procedure.
Summing up: Some tense, well-staged moments but the overall effect is less than impressive as a study of a serial killer on the loose.
Overpraised by film noir addicts.