SEVEN DAYS IN MAY REVIEWED
“Seven Days in May” follows the effort to stage a Coup in the US government. While released in 1964, the film is supposed to be set in the 1970s. However, this alternate reality finds a team of generals trying to oust an unpopular Pacifist President. What follows is Kirk Douglas spending a week trying to stop the American government from ending. Couple that with a stellar script via Rod Serling and you’ve got quite the political drama.
What makes this movie stand out is Frankenheimer’s efforts to make the film timeless and pointed hard at the Cold War Post Kennedy mentality. Everyone can be an enemy and life won’t stop for a moment. Films like this are what I return to at times when I question Frankenheimer’s legacy. No singular action/dramatic director could cut a film together so tightly in 1960s American cinema. That tight nature made the ending feel a little melodramatic, but the studio needed to give Douglas a button to send the audience home.
If you’ve seen “The General’s Daughter”, compare that ending to the ending here. That push to have a final slam on the bad guy feels a little too TV drama, but it works. The audience needs that last push to know that the good guys won.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Commentary
A/V STATS
- 1.78:1 1080p transfer
- DTS-HD 2.0 MONO