Seven
Pounds
The first 6 ½ pounds is very good, but
that last ½ pound stinks.
Will Smith stars as Ben Thomas – an IRS agent at the end of
his rope. As Seven Pounds begins, we see him in middle of a horrible
crisis, and about to commit suicide. Then, director Gabriele Muccino
takes us back in time so we can see the events that lead to this
moment.
What happened?
What was Ben trying to accomplish?
What is his plan?
Muccino and editor Hughes Winborne fantastically make Seven
Pounds part mystery, part drama, and part romance. One of the
most attractive and stimulating attributes of the film is the way Seven
Pounds jumps around from scene to scene to make us wonder
what happened
to Ben, ask what kind of life he has led, question how each moment
relates to the next and challenges us try to piece it all together. The
audience gets to use their minds for a while, instead of being stuck
with the same old, predictable twists and turns, so that’s a
welcome change. Even better, the love story is not some sappy set of
scenes coldly calculated to hit all of the usual buttons. It adds
intrigue to make us wonder how this story fits in with what we have
seen at the beginning and throughout Seven Pounds.
Most of all, Smith delivers a virtuoso tour de force of an acting
performance. The audience gets to see him display an anger we have
rarely seen before, and watch him engage with Dawson in one of the
year’s best love stories, even if the ending is a bit over
the top (much more about that later). Then, Dawson makes the audience
feel her suffering and the joy of the new love she has found, even if
we are convinced, and get enough clues to realize, this may not end
very well.
However, Seven Pounds massively fails with an
ending that exceeds believability and reason (you might as well have
aliens show up at the end or it turns out to
be his sled!). After
watching an enthralling, emotional movie, I was left wondering why it
has to come to this conclusion. It’s so far out of left
field, and such an extremely strange choice given the other 10 better
ideas you and I could come up with during the closing credits. Some
people, like my friend Tim Gordon liked it, so you’ll have to see Seven
Pounds to argue with me.
Seven Pounds is rated PG-13 for
thematic material, some disturbing content and a scene of sensuality.
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