Ten Points About 1995's "Seven"

The Cheese Fry recently watched David Fincher's serial killer masterpiece Seven with the 16-year-old, who'd never seen it.  We've watched it many times over the years, of course, but it's been a while.  We were coming into it pretty fresh.  And, of course, there's something special about watching a favorite movie with someone who's never seen it before.  And the 16-year-old knew next to nothing about Seven aside from it being about a serial killer and starring Brad Pitt.  Here's a few observations.

1. It's aged very, very well.  True, there are no smartphones or flatscreen computers so it's definitely of the 1990s, but the movie has such a timeless, fable quality that it still feels very contemporary and strangely urgent.  Morgan Freeman's big speech about living in a world where apathy is considered a virtue strikes a nerve all these years later.  It's much easier to tune out with social media than engage with people around you.
2. The ending ("John Doe's got the upper hand!") remains unflinchingly genius.  As shocking and tragic as it may be - the bad guy is more or less winning, the ending also feels completely inevitable and totally earned.  It's very hard to watch the torture on Brad Pitt's face as he wrestles with what to do, gun in hand, John Doe cuffed on his knees in front of him.  It's easy to say that a movie star like Pitt just coasts on charisma and charm, as in something like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.  He's fantastic in that movie, but it's mostly just Pitt being cool.  When properly motivated, however, like in moments like this in Seven, he can deliver the actorly goods.
3. We realized for the first time that John Doe likely doesn't have a plan for the last two deadly sins (wrath and envy) until he poses as a news photographer and encounters Pitt.  Pitt goes nuts, breaking the camera and displaying his character's hot-headed rage, which John Doe will use against him.  What if Pitt hadn't done that?  How might the movie have ended?
4. There's just the one traditional action sequence when Pitt chases John Doe through apartment buildings and into the street.  Otherwise, it's mostly a seedier, grosser episode of your favorite TV police procedural with red herrings, high tech forensic geek-outs, and talky philosophizing about justice and crime.
5. Some interesting irony in that John Doe's twisted mission to showcase society's shameless evils more or less aligns with Freeman's view of the world.
6. There is no sanctuary in this infamously unnamed city.  It's always raining, dark, and crowded.  Everyone, in fact, seems in need of a bath and a fresh change of clothes.  Note also that our main characters can't even find solace in their homes: Pitt's apartment is rattled by a subway every ten minutes, while Freeman has to use a metronome at his bedside to drown out the constant yelling of arguing neighbors.  The one respite (aside from the bright desert sunshine of the movie's most devastating moment, although technically everyone had to drive for many miles out of the city to get there) is the city library after hours, where Freeman wanders the aisles in peace.
7. No surprise that Morgan Freeman turns every line into a polished jewel.  A national treasure.
8. Kevin Spacey is so very young here, but he packs such a punch, the essence of speaking softly and carrying a big stick.  It's an incredibly high bar to meet after so much build up with the gruesome, complicated deaths, but Spacey's creepy calm more than lives up to the hype.
9. We don't think Seven invented the "tired cop who's about to retire gets one last case" trope, but it certainly plays it out effectively.  When we first meet him, Freeman is a cop eager to quit.  He's seen it all and has had enough.  But by at the end, he tells his captain "I'll be around."  A big part of this transformation comes in the scene at the bar where Pitt loudly refuses to believe Freeman cares so little.  Pitt's lines here are so, so great: "I don’t think you’re quitting because you believe these things you say.  I don’t.  I think you want to believe them because you’re quitting."  You can see on Freeman's face - no dialogue needed - that there's truth in that.
10. We'd be remiss without also pointing out the insane title sequence of stuttering, skewed, overlapping images over grungy guitars.  Brilliant tone-setter.

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