Review: Seven Pounds
Will Smith Surprises Again with Another Dramatic Turn in New Movie
Dec 19, 2008
Deciding to again explore the dramatic range of his acting chops, Will Smith stars as Ben Thomas, a guilt-ridden IRS agent with a dark secret, and a mission to help others in dire need.
Seven Pounds Synopsis
Ben Thomas (Will Smith) lives alone along the Pacific Ocean, in a very empty beachhouse, lonely since the passing of his loved one. Through careful editing and effective flashbacks, we are made to understand he lost her a while back, and has been grieving in privacy ever since.
Utilizing the tools available to him within the IRS database, Ben seeks to locate seven specific people who could stand to use some help, which they would otherwise never be able or humble enough to ask for.
One by one, Ben visits these strangers, seeking to find their true worth, and judging their righteousness and true need to be helped. As he visits each stranger, none of them affect him so much as Emily Rosa (Rosario Dawson), an artist suffering from congenital heart failure, who is behind on her bills and her taxes, due to her medical expenses of late.
Through finding ways to help Emily, Ben slowly starts to come out of his shell, yet still unable to confide his terrible secret to her, or his endgame.Ben's ulterior motive to his actions in helping these strangers remains shourded in secrecy, and the story develops to a powerful shocking climax.
What happens? This has been the film's best kept secret in recent times, with promotional items for the film not even hinting at the posssibilities. Even the film's movie trailer and TV spots, are ambiguous at best.
Seven Pounds Overall Analysis
Mainly a movie about redemption and selflessness, Seven Pounds nevertheless comes off as covertly manipulative, gunning for audiences' strings in affecting them with this melancholy tearjerker. Of course, this movie never claimed to be remotely comedic in nature, yet there are but few moments of respite for viewers to recover from one sad scene to another.
Will Smith does an excellent job conveying a grief-stricken character intent on making a difference, knowing what must be done to at least change the life of someone he doesn't know. Though it is unlikely this role would garner him an Oscar nomination, he is nonetheless to be commended for another successful performance, showing he is more than just an action and comedy icon. Not many actors can make that leap successfully (a few able others like Johnny Depp and Harrison Ford, for example), but Smith can now count himself among their ranks.
Rosario Dawson does her thing, playing an independent woman whose life goals may be cut short due to the hand dealt to her by fate, yet is determined to make the most of it, with what little time she has left. Woody Harrelson also makes a brief appearance, playing Ezra, a mild mannered and timid blind customer service agent, whose life also gets to change with Smith's help.
All in all, a powerful story, one whose plot secret is bound to be the talk of the season, as audiences confide in others to see it, unwilling to explain why. As far as dramas go, Seven Pounds fits the bill, if only too well. If only it wasn't trying so hard to make its target audience bawl by the time the credits rolled...
7.5 out of 10 for being an effective drama, but leaving the viewer feeling emotionally exploited
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