Movie #1 (Format: DVD, Widescreen)

Rating: 7/10 (7 May 2011)

Last Thoughts First: Cinema attracts all forms of oddballs, don't it? Why anyone with any notion of The Bible or sin sits through a film like this is anyone else's guess- but who has time to play games? ME! People who could need a film like this to tell them anything about the world we live in or confirm what they already believe are only useful to this movie in, hopefully, having bought a ticket or copy of the home video. I on the other hand am such a freeloader- I first saw this on VHS, borrowed a copy from someone else who paid the rental fee. And this morning, I watched it on DVD- again, not my copy and I've never paid to rent it.
The Movie: Morgan Freeman is always intelligent and thoughtful, that's his gimmick. He's the real star of the movie, yet he doesn't get top billing because he isn't white- like international heartthrob, Brad Pitt. Pitt is always obnoxious and annoying, even when he's playing a whiny vampire. I'm not much of a fan of either. They're both still doing their gimmicks. But only one of them annoys me. Surprisingly, it's the one who plays the guy who's always on some kind of sugar rush / caffeine high. Does his character Mills have ADHD or something? Either way, I don't care. I get it, he can't control himself and expects others to do it for him; he needs to shut up or simmer down. They're the hard-boiled detectives covering the case of The 7-Sins Killer - my nickname for the guy, not something you hear in the movie. The movie's too busy with actor gimmicks. Gwyneth Paltrow plays the same sweet-hearted pretty blonde chick she always is. That guy who's always on The Military Channel actually plays a fairly perceptive chief / commissioner type- although he has the single dumbest line in the movie (the "Southern Baptist upbringing" quip). Kevin Spacey plays a fanatic, which we all know he's good at. And Scrubs' John C. McGinley plays a skinheaded SWAT team psycho, with the movie's single nastiest line of dialogue (do you remember what it was?).
The Moral of the Story: The world sucks and nobody cares. And Brad Pitt needs to learn more about subtlety. His attempts to bull viewers into paying more attention to him rather than Freeman are feeble and if this movie caused any of his "Sexiest Man Alive" admirers to sleep with one eye open... Good. But, I doubt what the killer said rang very true. About what he does being studied and followed for years. Instead, it was just hollowed out for brainless copycats like Saw (2003). If people were smart enough to appreciate the killer and his work in the context of his mission... why does Saw currently have a 7.7 rating on IMDb? Sounds like he had just a little too much faith in the human race.