Will Smith as Ben Thomas and Rosario Dawson
as Emily Posa in "Seven Pounds", directed by Gabriele Muccino. The film
opened across the U.S. and Canada today. (Photo: Sony Pictures)
THE POPCORN REEL FILM REVIEW/"Seven Pounds"
In L.A., A Grieving Santa Claus As I.R.S.
Agent, With A Gift That Keeps On Giving
By
Omar P.L. Moore/December
19, 2008
Every great film star actor makes a bad film at least one in his or her career,
and Will Smith is no exception. He's had box office hits with poor films
("Wild Wild West",
"Hancock") and box office flops in poor films ("The Legend Of
Bagger Vance"), but in terms of poor films on Mr. Smith's resume it may be
difficult to top "Seven Pounds", which opened across the U.S. and Canada today.
In it Mr. Smith has one of his most unsentimental roles since impressively
playing a con artist in his big screen debut "Six Degrees Of Separation" as Ben
Thomas, an I.R.S. agent who has been mired in deep melancholy and grief since
his wife died in a car accident that Ben is largely responsible for. Ben
himself is a car wreck, and "Seven Pounds" mirrors that wreck as a disjointed
film that manipulates us to death in its final 30 minutes or so. There are
so many close-ups, shifts, quick edits and a lack of focus from scene to scene
in "Seven Pounds" that it is difficult to digest and look at. Harried and
empty, the film vacillates as much as its lead performer.
Ben would surely take umbrage to late former U.S. president Ronald Reagan's
famous line about the nine most terrifying words in the English language being
"I'm from the government and I'm here to help" -- for he is truly the gift that
keeps on giving. Naturally as an auditor he is a most unlikable fellow at
the start, but beyond that Ben is unvarnished, angry and brutally honest, and
abruptly (thanks to poor editing by Hughes Winborne) he seeks to make amends to
those directly or indirectly victimized by his auto recklessness, including a
blind man (Woody Harrelson), a woman working at child services (Judyann Elder),
a woman (Elpidia Carrillo) entangled with her abusive boyfriend and Emily, a
woman who has a heart condition (Rosario Dawson). These and three other
strangers will be linked to this I.R.S. agent in ways they never imagined.
In some ways, "Seven Pounds" plays as a crude inverse of "Six Degrees Of
Separation", with the separation factor played out to the hilt. There is meant
to be deep and abiding sentiment in "Seven Pounds" but with all its Hallmark
Card entreaties much of the film's second hour plays as a spectacle of horror. We
stagger in disbelief at one of the final scenes in the film, wondering why Ben
would choose to look so ridiculous in doing what he does. It's definitely not
a scene where one laughs out loud (though some did), but deep within many audience members may
laugh and shake their heads at the same time. "Seven Pounds" goes the
distance as an overwrought film and is also a good name for the weight of a fist
that repeatedly hits the audience in its face. Several people walked out
of "Seven Pounds" on the evening it was screened -- and that could have been due
to just how incomprehensively bad it was, or because they couldn't take the
sledgehammer effect on their emotions any longer. They would have missed
the film's near-final image, which is so unbelievably insulting and silly that
they (and you) might want to howl. It is only after "Seven Pounds" is over
that you sit back and see in context just how poor a film it is. As you
are watching you wonder,
"where is this film going?", yet at other moments you can see its destination
from a mile away.
Unfortunately the sophomore jinx did not elude Gabriele Muccino, the film's
director. Mr. Muccino first teamed with Mr. Smith in 2006's
"The Pursuit
Of Happyness", based on Chris Gardner's same-titled autobiography that detailed
Mr. Gardner's being homeless as a single father in San Francisco and later
becoming a multimillionaire, and in that film emotion in the story and strength
in directing were ably on display. Here, Mr. Muccino has directed a film
that is akin to an incomplete or unfinished Rubick's Cube. The Cube
flourished in the 1980's, but there is a 1990's feel to "Seven Pounds",
wardrobe-wise (costume designer Sharen
"Dreamgirls" Davis) and attitude-wise.
The film's tone changes very early on with a sudden, out-of-nowhere film title
graphic that fits in Sesame Street's "Which Of These Things Just Doesn't Belong
Here?" song more than it does Mr. Muccino's film, a film which can be directly
compared to "21 Grams" (2003), a much better and more sustainable movie.
In both films the lead characters are narrating and reflecting on their flawed
lives and how fate and chance have intervened in the most inconvenient ways, but
that's where any hint of favorable comparison ends.
Occasionally the melancholy and mystery of "Seven Pounds" is interrupted by
breathtaking views (cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd) of the Pacific coastline,
presumably along that particular portion of Highway 1 in Southern California.
Grant Nieporte wrote the film's aimless screenplay, and it definitely needed a
few more rewrites before seeing the light of day. Mr. Smith himself should
have looked at this script again. One thing you can credit Will Smith for
-- he isn't afraid to take chances -- he has played two unlikable guys in two
bad Sony Pictures films in 2008, and he just continues to plough along. Although the
character he plays seems more foolish than anything else, he isn't the worst
thing about "Seven Pounds", even though he plays a mythical, fantastical
make-good character (as in "Bagger Vance") who is supposed to be heroic not just
because he is helping others but because his own life is also in crisis.
There's bad acting from several of the participants in "Seven Pounds", and for
the record, about five percent of "Seven Pounds" works -- the tenderness and longing that
mesh into a fleeting chance of love for Ben and Emily. At that point, this
restless film has for a few minutes at least stood still, until turmoil and
chaos make an irresistible comeback in a mad dash for the long overdue finish
line.
With: Barry Pepper, Michael Ealy, Tim Kelleher, Connor Cruise, Louisa Kendrick
and Joe Nunez.
"Seven Pounds" is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association Of America for
thematic material, some disturbing content and a scene of sensuality. The
film's running time is one hour and 58 minutes. Sony Pictures distributed
"Seven Pounds", which opened across the U.S. and Canada today.
Copyright The Popcorn Reel. PopcornReel.com. 2008. All Rights
Reserved.