Haunting, gripping, sadistic--welcome to America (minor spoilers)

Rating: 8/10 (2 March 2004)

First of all, I would like to make a few comments about some of the other comments on the movie: First of all, it was actually intentional that Brad Pitt seem somewhat cocky & ne'er-do-well in his role; the point of his character was that he most likely came from a smallish town's precinct where the hardest crime was probably stealing from the collection plate, and his attitude was looked up to. In a small town. He, in their minds, had the attitude of "those movie & TV cops". In L.A., an attitude doesn't even get you a latte. So his bravado is supposed to be misplaced. But what does come through is the fact that he honestly does want to do the right thing his own way, and "get the bad guys & teach them some manners", usually with a lot of verbal & some physical abuse. Typical small-town, or rent-a-cop, mindset. Secondly, a lot of people claim that the gore was hard to take...WHAT gore? We only see the aftermath of the murders, not what they go through. And what they go through is only speculated upon, not hard-cold fact. The gore is in the mind of the audience. Frankly I am quite please that they took that approach, as it shows that the writers, producers, directors are giving the audience SOME credit for having minds & imaginations. Hollywood thinking their audience has a few brain cells--go figure... To sum up my feelings on the movie, I have to quote the artistic director, Rob Bottin, on this one--"This is a script that definitely gave me the butt-willies!" From beginning almost to the end, I was impressed by not only the idea, but the approach to such an idea. And a haunting thought occurred to me...why hasn't this ever been done before in real life? Or has it, but was not clued in to? Not that I'm hoping this is so, of course!! I think that given the circumstances, the victims were actually handled with dignity. So many times in movies, the victims are exploited because most of Hollywood thinks that we only want shock and after-death scandals. Here, there was no dirty laundry airing, no contrite bloodletting...just the sad fact that they were everyday people in everyday lives (whether we want to admit it or not), and chosen to fit a specific killer's agenda. Much like most other serial killers. Morgan Freeman, as usual, does no wrong, and brings a quiet grandness to his role (and every role). Brad Pitt, with the aforementioned background character, holds his own and does a pretty impressive job to get most of us to forget that he's known for his looks alone. Gwyneth Paltrow isn't given much to do, but she does it amiably. And R. Lee Ermey, as always, is a comic-relief treat (ring..."This is not even my desk!" slam!). Plus, how much fun was it for us to see "Shaft" as the governor?? One minor flaw I feel compelled to say, and this is just my opinion: Not the actor portraying him, but the character of John Doe, left me a little dry. When he first arrived in the station, his character seemed to fit with all that was discovered in his apartment. But once he started talking, he fell into the same old Hollywood Killer mode. Giving away all of his motives and intentions and thought processes right before the end. This contriteness is in EVERY killer movie, and was a sore disappointment. For me. Personally, I would have preferred not to have him speak at all, or very minimally. Case in point, at the very end when Mills has the gun on him and Somerset rushes up after receiving the box. Doe goes into saying what his role is in the 7 deadly sins, and what Mills' role will be as well...Hasn't that been implied already?? We KNOW who will be what sin, just by the set-up! And there's only two left--I think we can tell who is which! Sorry, but Hollywood--take note, please - we don't need every killer's life story, motives, and intentions spoon-fed to us. Besides, with everything only being implied in the rest of the film, having John Doe go into such a self-serving diatribe really goes against the grain, and gives the feel of the film a 180 turn...which makes it all the more sad when the first hour & 45 minutes have proved that the writers, et al, have the intelligence to not stoop to that level. However that is my only beef with the film. The rest; above par, superb, magnificent, and a must-see...that you will be seeing in your conscious and subconscious for a long while after the film ends. Guaranteed.