Se7en Problems with Se7en

Rating: 1/10 (26 February 2011)

I can't remember the last movie I saw that was this full of crap. How did they convince that cast this story would be anything other than the "t-shirt"/"movie of the week" Brad Pitt's character said it was going to be? The performances were fine (particularly Freeman's and Spacey's). The script, however, was a travesty.
First, the consistency of the killings is completely muddled. The first five murders were committed by Spacey's character ("John Doe"--how original) because of what he perceives to be the sins committed by those he's killed. OK so far. The 6th murder (of Paltrow's character) is also done by Doe, but not because of a sin she's committed, rather because of the sin Doe perceives HE has committed. Got that? And the 7th murder is done by Pitt's character to Doe because of the sin Mills (Pitt) carries with him (I guess?). But even if you link the "Envy" murder of Doe by Mills as one of the 7 sinners who "deserved" to be killed for their sin, why was Paltrow's character killed again? And along with that, why does Pitt's character get to live for the sin of Wrath?
Another plot point that I don't think can be overlooked... If Doe was the religious lunatic he was presented to be, the murder of Paltrow's character and her unborn child would surely have been the 6th AND 7th murders. Doe was aware she's pregnant. Of course, how do you link an unborn child with a deadly sin? I see the writer's problem. His solution was a train wreck.
I also didn't buy at all that Doe was actually envious of Pitt's character. It made for a quirky plot twist, but it seemed so inconsistent for that character. It also didn't make much sense from a plot perspective (see paragraph above).
Have I got to 7 things yet? Did I mention the silly 7 in the title? How about the constant allusions to Somerset's knife, the knife tossing, etc... which turns out to be needed most in the film to open a box?
I guess if you make the assumption that John Doe is insane, then this master plan might make sense to the audience: He's insane, his plan probably shouldn't make sense. But to think that his plan worked, succeeded, was effective or even consistent at all (as Somerset's character implies by telling Mills not to kill Doe and fulfill Doe's plan), is giving WAY to much credit to the writer, and almost no credit to the audience.
I recently saw and reviewed Michael Haneke's "Funny Games" which would fall into the same psychological/horror/thriller genre as "Se7en". And as much as I was affected by "Funny Games" and impressed by Haneke's vision and direction, I said that I couldn't responsibly recommend it. After seeing "Se7en", however, I finally found Haneke's target audience. If "Se7en" is on your recommended must-see list, then "Funny Games" is really the must-see movie for you.