Better than Fight Club...!

Rating: 10/10 (13 February 2006)

Now don't get me wrong, I love Fight Club and will write a very positive review of that movie sometime soon. However, to me, Se7en will forever be the superior film.
The plot, if you haven't seen or heard it before, concerns two detectives. One is old and about to retire while the other is new and fresh to the city. Detective Lt. William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) is as grizzled a veteran as can be imagined, his lined, elderly face folding into itself with the worries of life and the job in the city of Los Angeles (I think), a place he regards as Hell on Earth and which he is very happy to be retiring away from. Of course, like every cop on his way out (in Hollywood at least) Somerset has one last case to face, although it isn't his to take. Instead it's the property of a young buck, Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt) who initially treats it as 'just another nasty corpse,' in this case a man literally eating himself to death. Of course, where director David Fincher is involved, a tag like that is bound to be less than the whole story and, before long, a second body is discovered.
Further plot explanations will only spoil the rest of the film, but stay put through the quiet, if edgy opening and you'll be hugely rewarded. This movie crackles with menace and, even before we meet the man responsible for all the carnage (Kevin Spacey's 'John Doe') you'll have experienced some truly horrifying, terror inducing moments. The fact that few if any of these are the product of screeching music or artificial suspense is a fine testament to Fincher's skill and the generally understated production of the film. Pitt isn't pretty, Somerset is hardly a benevolent mentor and Gwyneth Paltrow (as Mills' wife Tracy) is the epitome of be-trodden womanhood, someone whose former carefree existence in some quiet little town outside of LA has become a living nightmare inside of it.
The cast really shine in this film, as does the director and just about everyone involved. At no point during proceedings are you entirely sure that another horror isn't right around the corner, this despite the fact that the majority of the seven atrocities are seldom even shown on screen. Fincher whets our appetite with almost graphic descriptions by junior policemen at the scene and lets the camera play over the locations of the murders just skirting the defiled corpses... but seldomly are we given the full visual. This technique actually makes the whole thing much more disturbing as your imagination is left to fill in the gaps. A corpse on film is seldom unpleasant after you've seen it once or twice. One tantalisingly close yet just out of sight can haunt you far more! And when Fincher cheekily allows himself one moment of surprise it bursts from the screen with all the greater force because of his earlier restraint.
In this movie the acting, the atmosphere, the direction, the music, the plot and the pacing are all top notch and make this film a must have on DVD. Any criticisms I have are limited to a sense that there is a prevalence of style over substance in Se7en, something I think Fight Club also suffers from. The minimalist outlook and constant rain all make for a compelling atmosphere, but you only very occasionally get a feel for how big the case is. Instead it more often seems like an irrelevancy in the fast moving metropolis whereas, in fact, the murders are meant to ignite a media frenzy that ultimately leads to the films' incredible conclusion. But that is a minor quibble and one that you must probably accept with all Fincher's work.
All in all this is a fantastic movie and the perfect antidote to the usual, asinine output from Hollywood (and since I'm writing this the day before Valentine's day I feel particularly vindicated in saying that!). Every cast member does their job perfectly, even the more extreme outbursts of emotion being delivered in such a way as to appear genuine, rather than the 'oh it's just an actor looking for an Oscar' pitches that I often feel when I see a modern, 'worthy' film. On top of that you seldom feel like your watching a movie. The director keeps many of his usual tricks to himself this time, instead giving us more of an insight into, rather than presentation of, three extraordinary days in the lives of two ordinary cops (Somerset and Mills). This understatement and holding back makes for a much better film and, while Fight Club may be cooler, Se7en is superior.
Therefore my recommendation is: if you haven't seen Se7en then do so at the earliest opportunity, though be warned... you'll need a friend close by soon after!