"The World is a fine place and worth fighting for. I agree with the second part". Detective Somerset's (Morgan Freeman) take on Ernest Hemingway's quote perfectly sums up director David Fincher's dark crime thriller that explores some of the darkest and brutal parts of humanity.
Set in an unnamed American city, the film follows soon-to-be-retired, Detective Somerset tracking a trail of gruesome murders inspired by the 7 deadly sins. He is paired with young transfer Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) and the two navigate the murders and each other to try to find the killer before he can complete his masterpiece.
The main star of Se7en is not the characters or the crime itself, but the world it creates and how that world shapes those characters and crimes. It's a city that is truly eating itself away. It's a city that rarely sees light both metaphorically and literally as it's almost always raining throughout the film. Its darkness is so common that everyone living there has sunk to a state of empathy. In the opening scene when Somerset is investigating a homicide, he asks if the kid saw it with the police officer bluntly saying it doesn't matter. Somerset also tells Mills that in classes, women are told to yell fire instead of help when they are being raped as no one responds to help. The actual murders act as a way of exploding the worst aspects of this city. When we do finally meet the killer, John Doe (Kevin Spacy) he is somewhat insulted when Somerset and Mills call the victims "innocent". Each of the victims' John Doe chose contributed to rot and decay that city is known for and John Doe simply snapped at how tolerant everyone around him was to this corruption. John Doe is just another sad product of this city, but unlike so many others who grew to accept it, he reached his breaking point to the point of insanity.
Morgan Freeman gives one of the best performances of his career as Somerset. The cliche role of the hardened veteran detective is taken to new heights with the layers that Freeman builds around him. Somerset is retiring not because he thinks it's his time but because he can't stand the state of the city anymore, and is ready to give up on it. Despite his somewhat unattached persona, he is not lacking in compassion and understanding unlike many of his colleges. He even comes to understand why the city is the way it is, saying "Love costs, it takes effort and work". We see his humanity when he meets with Mill's wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) about her pregnancy. She is torn between keeping it and having an abortion due to her disgust with the city and not wanting to bring a child into it. Somerset sympathizes and goes out of his way to advise her on the matter. Brad Pitt is also good as the young and naive detective whose passion goes in sharp contrast to his colleges, especially Somerset. Mills and Somerset's chemistry is one of the things that make the film work as the dynamic of youthful optimism and veteran experience is well done here. While he doesn't show up till the end, Kevin Spacy's John Doe leaves a powerful impression and his monologue in the police car is one of the best out there.
Se7en is a dark and brutal thriller that may turn some people off, but if you can get through the violence you'll find it to be a fascinating study on the nature of society.
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