Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Lust, Pride, Envy and Wrath: The Seven Deadly Sins; a great premise for a serial killer's targets. Acting in the name of God against his creation which he believes has fallen into sin, the killer, John Doe, will brutally slay seven victims. Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt team up as the two detectives who have the assignment of tracking the elusive and enigmatic John Doe. Will they catch him before he completes the seven killings? Will they bring him to justice?

The movie is slow at times, and in some parts needs rewriting and tightening. Fortunately it has a decent ending, something almost all of this year's thrillers have been lacking. The performance turned in by Freeman is within his norm, but along side Pitt, Freeman is stately. Pitt plays his part like a gun-ho rookie, full of fire.

One glaring oddity of the film is the tendancy of the cops to walk into dark buildings and never reach for a lightswitch to help them out. Instead they walk around with flashlights in hand, scanning the room and peering intently into the dark void. In a sense, this film is almost neo-noir in it's landscape: dark buildings, wet streets, corrupt and sinful people murdered in the name of God. There are plot holes, and not everything is fully explained, even by the ending... so be prepared to go home with a few nagging questions.

"Seven" amounts to a decent night's entertainment; nothing more, nothing less.

Copyright (c) 1995 Tony Zidek