The Seven Five

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

85%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 1,197

Super Reviewer

Rate this movie

Oof, that was Rotten.

Meh, it passed the time.

It’s good – I’d recommend it.

Awesome!

So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

What did you think of the movie? (optional)
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
Super Reviewer
Step 2 of 2

How did you get your ticket?
By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
Super Reviewer

Rate this movie

Oof, that was Rotten.

Meh, it passed the time.

It’s good – I’d recommend it.

Awesome!

So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

What did you think of the movie? (optional)
How did you get your ticket?
- Fandango
- AMC (Coming Soon)
  
  We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
- Cinemark (Coming Soon)
  
  We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
- Regal (Coming Soon)
  
  We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
- Bought somewhere else
By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.
You haven’t finished your review yet, want to submit as-is?

You can always edit your review after.
Are you sure?

Verified reviews are considered more trustworthy by fellow moviegoers.
Want to submit changes to your review before closing?

The Seven Five Photos

View All Photos (3)

Movie Info

Meet the dirtiest cop in New York City history. In the 1980s, Michael Dowd patrolled the mean streets of one of the toughest precincts in Brooklyn. He also headed a ruthless criminal network that stole money and drugs, ultimately resulting in the city's biggest ever corruption scandal. In this explosive true crime saga, Dowd tells all as he relives his days as a mobster with a badge. The story that unfolds is a riveting real-life thriller full of larger-than-life personalities, stunning double crosses, and epic downfalls. (C) IFC Films

Rating:

R (for pervasive language, some grisly crime scene images, and drug content)
Genre:

Documentary
Directed By:

Tiller Russell
In Theaters:

May 8, 2015 limited
On Disc/Streaming:

May 8, 2015
Runtime:

104 minutes
Studio:

IFC Films

Cast

Michael Dowd

Ken Eurell

Walter Yurkiw

Chickie

Dori Eurell

News & Interviews for The Seven Five

Critics Consensus: Hot Pursuit Is a Comedy Clunker

View All

Critic Reviews for The Seven Five

All Critics (29) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (24) | Rotten (5)

Tiller Russell's fast-moving, invigorating documentary will make very gratifying viewing for fans of all those New York-set cop movies by Martin Scorsese and Sidney Lumet.

Aug 20, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Geoffrey Macnab
Independent (UK)
Top Critic
It's an absorbing study of group dysfunction.

Aug 13, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
Top Critic
Like watching a car crash, with all the elegance implied.

May 21, 2015 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

John Anderson
Newsday
Top Critic
It would be hard to imagine a more entertaining corrupt-cop documentary than "The Seven Five," a slick and fascinating portrait of disgraced New York policeman Michael Dowd.

May 14, 2015 | Full Review…

Michael Rechtshaffen
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic
It's a story you have to hear, from the guys who lived it and may never live it down.

May 11, 2015 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News
Top Critic
I think people like Russell add to the toxicity, thickening the wall that separates cops from the citizens they're tasked to protect. But maybe we need someone as plainly amoral to make a documentary as good as The Seven Five ...

May 8, 2015 | Full Review…

David Edelstein
New York Magazine/Vulture
Top Critic
A true-to-life documentary that feels ripped out of a Martin Scorsese film plot.

May 5, 2019 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…

C.H. Newell
Father Son Holy Gore
The result is like a cheap cop show, not something you'd choose to watch in the cinema.

Apr 5, 2019 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Tom Graham
CineVue
It's not quite Goodfellas, but it's better than Casino.

Aug 31, 2018 | Rating: 3.75/5 | Full Review…

Pat Padua
Spectrum Culture
While Tiller is clearly a little seduced by the drama of it all, he's good at exploring the moral myopia that sets in when the view from the trenches elevates loyalty to each other above protecting and serving the public.

Aug 17, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Alistair Harkness
Scotsman
Utterly spellbinding.

Aug 17, 2015 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…

Allan Hunter
Daily Express (UK)
The talking heads approach gets a bit relentless, but it's hair-raising stuff.

Aug 16, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Jonathan Romney
Observer (UK)

View All Critic Reviews (29)

Audience Reviews for The Seven Five

Mar 07, 2016

http://cinephilecrocodile.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/precinct-sevenfive-dir-tiller-russell.html

Anthony L Super Reviewer
Jun 24, 2015

"The Seven Five" is a stylish and fascinating documentary about former New York City Policeman Michael Dowd who served ten years in prison on various corruption charges. Along with his testimony in front of a commission in 1992, the movie is framed by some very forthright interviews from Dowd, his partner Ken Eurell, various co-horts, and those charged in rooting out corruption in the New York City Police Department.(They are all so forthright, that one imagines a very lengthy pre-filming legal conference about what is covered under the statute of limitations. That would also make a great DVD extra, by the way.) Dowd carried on with his extra-legal and illegal activities long after other members of his precinct stopped when a nearby precinct was brought down in a massive corruption raid, operating under the faulty logic that he was good because he was robbing from drug dealers and was not being caught. He was eventually brought down by Suffolk County police which still has one of the New York City internal affairs detectives shaking his head.(You have to be from Long Island to get the irony but trust me it's here.) "The Seven Five" also tackles wider themes like the police in general, not just those at this very crime-ridden junction of East New York, Brooklyn in the 1980's. On the one side, the camaraderie of the police looking for each other can only be a plus in such a dangerous precinct as the 75th. On the other hand, this also prevented them from going to the proper authorities when one of their own was doing something very wrong and illegal which one subject regrets to the present day.

Walter M Super Reviewer