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Se7en (1995) Brad Pitt ......................... Detective David Mills Morgan Freeman ........... Detective Lt. William Somerset Gwyneth Paltrow .......... Tracy Mills Kevin Spacey ................ John Doe Leland Orser .............. Crazed Man in Massage Parlor Synopsis The most viscerally frightening and disturbing homicidal maniac picture since The Silence of the Lambs, Seven is based on an idea that's both gruesome and ingenious. A serial killer forces each of his victims to die by acting out one of the seven deadly sins. The murder scene is then artfully arranged into a grotesque tableau, a graphic illustration of each mortal vice. From the jittery opening credits to the horrifying (and seemingly inescapable) concluding twist, director David Fincher immerses us in a murky urban twilight where everything seems to be rotting, rusting, or molding; the air is cold and heavy with dread. Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt are the detectives who skillfully track down the killer--all the while unaware that he has been closing in on them, as well. Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey are also featured, but it is director Fincher and the ominous, overwhelmingly oppressive atmosphere of doom that he creates that are the real stars of the film. It's a terrific date movie--for vampires. From Amazon.com Availability Video and DVD. The Leland Factor Brief, but searing. He appears a little over halfway through the movie. Allison's Review Despite all the raving I've read and/or heard about this movie, I've never had much of an interest in seeing it. Can't really explain why. (Probably Brad Pitt--I can't stand him.) But once my interest in Leland got fired up, I knew I had to at least watch his scene; a lot of reviews single him out as one of the film's standout moments, and even today a lot of internet film critics seem to remember him as "that guy from Seven". So I duly rented it and popped it in my DVD-ROM. Leland's character, who is not given a name, is the poor bastard who was forced to act out lust. Basically, John Doe stuck a gun in the guy's mouth, made him tie down the prostitute he was visiting, and then strap on a harness with a rather nasty knife attached to a plastic dildo. You can guess what happened next. When our heroes arrived on the scene, Leland was wrapped in a sheet, still wearing the harness, in full-on freakout mode, screaming for them to get the harness off of him. The police were having to sedate him. Morgan Freeman's character then interviews/interrogates him at the station. He was still wrapped in the sheet, sweating rivers, shaking like mad, and hyperventilating. I mean, he looked really rough--the corner of his lower lip was red like he'd nearly bitten through it, and there were red marks on his neck like someone had had a hold on him there, or something. It was obvious the poor guy was going to need some serious therapy. His entire breakdown, being made to describe what he had done, gave me serious chills. I ended up watching it several times with a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. On the DVD commentary, someone (I believe it was David Fincher, the director) stated that between takes, Leland would go off into a corner and hyperventilate very quietly in order to get himself worked up enough for filming. I've also read somewhere this caused him to pass out at one point. (Man, I believe it.) Verdict This is the film that put Leland on the map, so to speak. At the very least, watch his scene. You won't forget it easily. /back |