7 "Perfect" Movie Endings That Are Way More Contrived Than You Think
3. John Doe Goes Against His Established Character And Kills Tracy Because The Movie Needs Him To - Se7en
Se7en is a movie about a psychopathic serial killer who murders people in an unnamed American city, using the "seven deadly sins" as his M.O.. On the case are newly paired detectives William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and David Mills (Brad Pitt). After a cat and mouse chase ensues - and to the surprise of pretty much everyone - the killer - known only as "John Doe" - hands himself in to the cops. Placed under arrest, he agrees to plea guilty if one demand is met: he is to be driven out to the desert at a certain time, where he'll disclose the place where the final missing bodies are hidden. With no other choices available, they are forced to agree. Upon arrival in the desert, Mills and Somerset realise that something is up: a delivery van arrives at the set time, and presents Somerset with a box, which has been pre-organised for delivery by John Doe. Somerset opens the box, and it's revealed that it contains the head of Mills' wife, Tracy. Doe's plan all along, of course, was to push Mills into killing him, therefore rendering them as the final sins - envy (because Doe tried to "taste the life of a simple man" by playing husband with Tracy) and wrath (Mills' revenge). Mills obliges, and John Doe "wins." At first, this all seems to be meticulous planned, by both screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, and the character of John Doe himself. What you realise on closer inspection, however, is that Walker - and therefore Doe - betray the internal logic of the film's premise and of Doe's plan by having him murder Tracy. According to Doe, after all, he's not out to punish innocent people... and yet he murders Tracy, who has committed no sin. The problem with this is that Walker hopes we won't notice the contrived way in which the final plot points are pieced together; the death of Tracy is shocking, of course, but it doesn't fit in with the rest of the story in the ways we're led to believe. For a "genius" who has devised his plan to a precision point, the death of Tracy stands out like a sore thumb when you look into it further - would a man as meticulous as John Doe compromise the entire point of everything he did by killing an innocent woman? Smell that contrived ending?
