ericknromero

It looked like it would be a serious movie worth my time. Starting with Ralph Fiennes playing the lead and a few other actors I've admired for a long time joining him (namely Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow), and encouraged by the director's appearance in one of those round table discussions where other filmmakers praised his work, it seemed like a low-risk investment to me. Didn't get around to watching it until it came out on Amazon Prime... right around the time the real conclave happened. I'm glad I didn't waste my money at the theater.

For about half the film, I was invested. It's shot beautifully, the acting was as good as I expected, and the plot moved into pseudo-mystery territory. At this point, I could forgive a couple of minor issues I had with it, like too-many two-dimensional characters, an overemphasis on cinematography, and the usual Hollywood political perspectives. It was after the twists in the story started to mount and the smaller flaws listed in the previous sentence became more pronounced that it became clear that the most intense parts of this production came out in the trailer.

A few parts of the film were clearly made with CGI which may take the viewer out of whatever believable story there was, but it was the writing that really took me completely out of the experience. By the end, especially with a speech that was supposed to be a mic-drop moment falling so flat it felt comedic, I was hoping the film wouldn't continue to embarrass itself. Alas, with one more forced twist at the end, it did just that.

Masterpiece. One of the greatest movies ever made. Consistently in my top ten favorite list. Whatever superlative expression I used to describe this film isn't enough. I watched a special screening of it at the Alamo Drafthouse last night and still picked up on things I hadn't noticed the first ten times I saw the movie.

Fortunately, my girlfriend hadn't seen it before and was up for this sort of cinophilic spontaneity, so I got to enjoy her reacting to the jump scares, touching moments, beautiful shots, and that twisted ending. It was also special to talk to her about it after, seeing that she was able to pick up on things I hadn't.

Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, not to mention the brief but equally as powerful roles that Gwyneth Paltrow and he-who-shall-not-be-named played, were electric every second they were on screen. Detectives Mills and Somerset go on a journey together in one week that is so meaningful, much more than the brief description of the film in iMdb gives:

Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.

The real star of this production, though, is David Fincher. Every frame matters in this movie. Every sound, every music choice, every edit and every word is perfect (to me, at least). If this isn't a perfect movie, then it's as damn near close as it'll get.

A classic I turn to from time to time, though it's been a while since the last run through. In a new relationship, with someone who us learning French and has been to Paris no less, made tonight's rewatch an easy choice. She liked it. I've always liked it. And I wish more people would get around to seeing it.

Not much I could say here without ruining some of these short films for the viewer, so I'll keep it at just suggesting that you be ready for all kinds of themes, feelings, and relationships. The amount of emotion generated in a five minute movie can be more than an average feature length film. There's some silly stuff, too, maybe even scary moments. It's a grab bag of cinema goodies from back in 2006.