Solid performances from Denzel Washington,Rami Malek and Jared Leto could only elevate this one so much, because honestly I found this pretty bland and even kind of boring at times. John Lee Hancock is no doubt a competent director and I have enjoyed most of his films to various degrees, but he was definitely the wrong choice to direct this.

It just felt too much like Seven lite to me, except with none of the energy or stylish direction of Fincher from behind the camera and while this movie does have a great cast the only character that I thought was the least bit interesting or compelling was Jared Leto who sadly does not get nearly enough screen time as he should have and despite it being just another one of his weird, character performances. I didn't feel like there was a whole lot of chemitry between Denzel and Rami either and that ending while different and unexpected was more underwhelming to me than anything else.

C+

I'm an hour in and this is as dull as dishwater.

Yeah, I hated this. It felt incredibly dated and surprisingly dull, and none of the performances really stood out to me. C-

Yeah this was the perfect movie for streaming. Not very good.

Indeed. I am glad that I resisted the temptation to watch this in theaters and waited for the weekend to stream it instead. Full review on Monday.

The third act with

I don't see why this was compared to Seven its not even close to that. The acting is surprisingly bad in this and the whole movie thinks its dark and gritty but ends up being dull instead failing to use its talented cast. I didn't even find Jared Leto to be any good, Denzel and specially Rami were wasted in their own movie. Worst of all is the ending that is really bad and completely opposite for what came before. The movie does get the atmosphere right and there are some scenes that are great specially when Leto and Washington meet but those are too less and far apart to make this worthwhile.

C

I enjoyed this a lot actually, found it very good in most aspects. The ending lacks a good pay-off and though it very much is just going through the motions, I really liked the performances, there's just something soothing in watching Denzel and Leto does the right things in his role too. Malek however didn't feel great though, I feel another actor could have suited better, but he didn't bother me either. I particularly loved the sound track in this, the 90's setting felt very authentic and the investigation did just have me quite hooked. It clearly is inferior to Seven, a film which in setup it reminded me off, but that's fine, not all films can be aces, but I liked the vibe of this film still. It was interesting they did something different with the ending, and though it's missing certain beats that could have improved this overall, I still had a way better time with this than most films.

B+

For a movie this like this how lack of pay-off makes it good? Leto is hardly in the movie and its not like the movie plays as the best moments of similar themed past thrillers that somehow Denzel embodies here.

It's not that the lack of pay-off makes it good, it's just that I think the journey is still well worth of appreciation.

I am glad that you enjoyed it. I wasn't trying to diminish your review or experience its just that this is the type of movie I expect a good/big pay-off otherwise anything before that is not worth my time. I am surprised that you liked the journey because that seemed a little off to me as well.

One question can you (or anyone else) explain "what led to" Washington suspecting Leto when he sees him in the alley besides the car?

C-

So slow and boring. Dumb writing. Though it was well acted. The potential was there for a great movie.