The devil is hiding everywhere. It seems police procedurals are, too. Ostensibly an exorcism/horror flick, “The Seventh Day” (2021) sets up more like a detective story. The wizened veteran with a cross to bear (so to speak), is paired with a talented rookie who doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. Find-the-bad-guy (and we’re talking about the baddest bad guy of all) hijinks ensue. Was the suspect framed? Is there a dirty cop involved? Substitute priests for police and you’ve got this middling Guy Pearce effort pretty much figured out. It has the audacity to foreshadow a franchise in the epilogue.
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There’s a long list of movies where Stereotypical Suburban Family suffers a tragedy, is screwed over by the justice system, decides to take the law into its own hands, and has to weigh the philosophical magnitude of the decision. The tone of the times determines the ending. “Eye for an Eye” (1996) adds to the list without adding much artistic originality. Sally Field is the hyperbolically irrational mom and Ed Harris is the rock-solid dad. Their daughter is killed by psychopath Kiefer Sutherland, whose character is incredibly well fleshed out (no pun intended). He’s really the only reason to watch.
The late 1970s were a time of moral ambiguousness in America. Symbolizing that era are the morally ambiguous protagonists of “The Nice Guys” (2016). Ryan Gosling (drunken detective but well-meaning single father) and Russell Crowe (sadistically violent goon with a heart of gold) team up to crack a murder case. Hijinks ensue. There’s lots of people accidentally getting shot (yet when people shoot at each other on purpose, they’re always missing). There’s also lots of era-inappropriate speech and items (crime-scene tape in 1977?), and other terrible production values (leisure suits that go from soaking wet to bone dry in minutes).
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