Se7en (1995)

The premise is almost deceptively simple: two police detectives - a rookie and a veteran - hunt a serial killer around an unnamed city who has been who has apparently been using the seven deadly sins as his motives for each victim, each one also displayed at the murder scene to signify that one particular sin.  Of course as directed by three-time Oscar-nominee David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac, The Social Network, Gone Girl), it became a highly influential phenomenon.....a grisly horror classic featuring one of the most talked-about gut-punch endings of all time.  It also helped that it starred two movie stars at the peak of their powers: Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman as the veteran Detective Somerset and Oscar-winner Brad Pitt as the rookie Detective Mills.  Plus Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow as Tracy Mills....AND Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey as John Doe.  Now approaching this film's thirtieth anniversary, let's join our two intrepid detectives on the trail to find out........WHAT'S IN THE BOX. :o   

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

Transcript

SEVEN - 1995

Directed by David Fincher 

Starring Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow, John Cassini, R. Lee Ermey, John C. McGinley, Peter Crombie, Reg E. Cathey, Daniel Zacapa, Richard Roundtree, Hawthorne James, Julie Araskog, Richard Portnow, Leland Orser, and Kevin Spacey

Genre: Horror Thriller (Audio clip)

Twenty-nine years ago, I saw this at a grungy movie theater in upstate New York.....and it FREAKED ME THE F#$K OUT. :o From that now iconic opening credits sequence to a to Freeman's sobering voice-over at the very end, this film just does not let up. As someone who actually appreciated some of the dark beats he took a few years prior with Alien 3 (but not all of them....Hicks too REALLY??), this definitely had me thinking that David Fincher was a master to watch and he has not really disappointed since. I cannot imagine how ridiculous this story could have presented itself in lesser hands.

From an acting performance standpoint, it's still Morgan Freeman's movie playing Detective Somerset - even though both of his Alex Cross movies ended up being pretty lame, dude was just BORN to play a detective! He brings the perfect blend of gravity and drollness to every scene that you're just never bored watching him explain what's going on to every one else around him...

And to be fair to Brad Pitt, he's playing a very tropey archetype as Detective Mills but it seems that he's executing it EXACTLY as written. Same with Paltrow who has a thankless role as Mills’ wife Tracy though really DOES bring a lot of warmth to it....making the ending that much more effective.

And that score - Howard Shore composed this, Silence of the Lambs, and The Fly within nine years...if you need operatic music to drive a brutal morality tale which will TRULY unnerve an impressionable young man, he's your guy. ;) (Audio clip) 

Not a pure rewatchable for everyone as this film is pretty unrelentingly grim (it's also probably Fincher's most humorless film - he's gotten increasingly better with mixing humor into his stories), but it's an unforgettable achievement nonetheless.

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

The film is bookended by two BANGER needle-drops including a dazzling industrial ditty from the late great David Bowie from his ’95 album “Outside” which I distinctly remember came out right around this same time – it’s an effectively grim yet catchy note to end the movie on playing over credits which are displayed in a typically jagged font, the track is called, “The Heart’s Filthy Lesson.” (Audio clip) 

And yet of course THE most effective needle-drop occurs at the beginning during what was definitely one of THE best opening credits sequences of the ‘90’s – this was the tone-setter to end all tone-setters.  This was basically Fincher announcing the audience, “Buckle up folks!  Either you’re embarking on ONE hell of a disturbing ride which you’re never gonna forget OR I’m just pushing the grunge-era aesthetic to an extreme here and if this movie doesn’t work, you’re gonna be laughing at me for years to come!”  It’s an audacious choice to open a movie like this for sure: close-ups of bloodied fingers with band-aides, razor blades, notebooks FILLED with tiny text, polaroids of faceless victims….and all shot through a color filter which might as well have been soaked in coffee.  For me it always worked and that’s certainly helped by the song choice which comes to us from Cleveland, OH’s OWN Favorite industrial band of the ‘90’s NINE INCH NAILS – the future Oscar-winning due of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross who would of course go on to compose many a memorable film score.  The track is a mostly instrumental remix of their ’94 smash hit and one of THE best industrial pop songs of the '90's, this version taken from the extended EP which followed their ’94 album “The Downward Spiral.”  I’m referring of course to….CLOSER. (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

It honestly feels as if EVERYONE involved with this film is truly cooking from Mark Boone Junior’s brief but memorable appearance as the greasy informant who gives Somerset that envelope to those POOR, probably overworked production assistants who….YES….had to actually WRITE ALL of that scribble into those John Doe notebooks.  Oy!  So I’ll go the Michael Clayton route with this category….referring to previous episode for that classic film starring George Clooney, I just posed a brief “What if?” based on who TURNED down that lead role before Clooney took it on….Denzel Washington and as much as I loved Clooney in that movie, I think Denzel would have MURDERED that part in retrospect.  Well you know what OTHER role Denzel turned down and he also considers it to be his biggest career regret?   The role of Mills played by Brad Pitt…..hmmm.  Pitt’s pretty spot-on in this AND he has great chemistry with both Freeman AND Paltrow.  I’m glad this worked out the way it did…..but COULD this movie have been even better with Denzel bring that GRAVITAS, going toe-to-toe with Freeman?  And that “What’s in the box?” scene….with Denzel looking freaked delivering that line?  One can only wonder….

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

For a story structured like this, it obviously comes down to WHICH sin was portrayed the most effectively and that’s an admittedly tough call – do you go the most gruesome, the most dramatic, the most surprising?  Well for me, I think I’ll choose the one where you actually see the least…..and that would have to be LUST. (Audio clip) 

Simply put, this is just brilliant filmmaking on Fincher’s part because I can remember seeing this in theaters and initially feeling confused….hearing the FANTASTIC Leland Orser who is simple credited as NO JOKE… “Crazed Man in Massage Parlor”…just ranting and raving, and thinking: “WHAT the hell is he talking about, what could have been done to him?? I mean the dude is naked, covered in a blanket, I don’t SEE any blood on him…” and then as the camera just BRIEFLY glances as the Polaroid of that….dare I say….STRAP-ON?? (Audio clip) 

Leland Orser’s performance has been rightly praised as next-level AMAZING….he is SELLING the true terror of this scene but don’t sleep on the late, great Michael Massee either.  HE’S the one being questioned by Mills and is credited as “Man in Booth at Massage Parlor” – dude looks grim and defeated and no wonder, THIS scene was actually the first acting gig he took on following his break after that tragic on-set incident filming The Crow.  Yup THAT incident….and no what occurred then was proven to not be in any way his fault but apparently the actor never really got over it….very sad story. (Audio clip) 

This scene just does SO much while revealing so little and it’s capped off with the brief panning shot of Mills and Somerset just sitting alone in each of those interrogation rooms looking CONFOUNDED.  Very unsettling stuff.  But I just can’t keep this to ONE scene though….because that would be discounting the late appearance of Kevin Spacey as John Doe.  I mean I can remember seeing this in theaters and hearing that voice on the phone call a few scenes earlier….as this was likely after the FIFTH time I had seen The Usual Suspects in theaters, I was wondering, “Hmmm that’s not KEVIN SPACEY is it?” I mean he just has one of those distinct voices…..well we find out for sure when he appears in that precinct, LOUDLY declaring his presence.  It remains one of THE great villain reveals which you’re ever gonna see. (Audio clip) 

But even better is a sequence which follows….no not THAT sequence though it’s pretty great.  THE BOX is a fantastic rug=pull of a reveal, worked on me for sure….but I’m actually referring to the driving sequence leading UP to that reveal.  Literally just EIGHT MINUTES of just Freeman, Pitt, and Spacey truly cooking in that car….just fantastic acting on every one’s part with John Doe being SO smug, Mills being SO brash, and Somerset at least TRYING to probe into the actual meaning of what’s transpiring. (Audio clip) 

The way it’s framed within the car, the looming score, the cut-aways to WHEREVER they might be driving….wait was this New York or LA, who knows?  Fincher keeps the location vague on purpose.  This sequence is a MASTERCLASS in building tension. (Audio clip) 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

And along those lines….with this only being his second feature, Fincher delivered a masterclass on how to terrify your audience.  I mean it certainly helped that he caught both Pitt and Freeman at the PERFECT points in their acting careers but I can’t think of  a SINGLE choice he makes which doesn’t land the way it should.  For just over two hours, he takes you on an unnerving journey which never lets you off the hook ALL the way to the final shot….for directing one of THE best films of the ‘90’s, David Fincher is the clearcut MVP. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Among Fincher’s overall filmography, does this one hold up as the best?  I’m honestly not sure and I seem to always be changing my mind about it – I mean The Social Network gets tons of deserved acclaim, I think The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo MIGHT be severely underrated, and then there’s Zodiac….which I need to revisit, they’re ALL pretty much great movies with the LIKELY exception of ‘Benjamin Button which sorry just always put me to sleep.  Regardless this one is up there – Happy 30th Anniversary to one of the PROTOTYPICAL buddy cop movies….even though nobody ever seems to describe it that way. 

Streaming on Peacock & Prime Video

And that ends another METHODICAL, EXACTING, AND…WORST OF ALL…PATIENT review!