Seven Pounds

12 Jan 2009
Critics rating: 2 stars out of 5
Reviewed by Tom Charity, LOVEFiLM

No, it's not the price of your ticket. Actually, even after seeing Will Smith's new movie I'm not entirely sure what the title refers to. And even if I knew, I probably couldn't tell you.

See, Seven Pounds is an enigma wrapped around a secret. It’s not a suspense thriller, but if you knew the sting in the tail there really wouldn’t be much to keep you occupied while this slow, turgid tearjerker unfolds.

All of which makes it a little tricky to write about, but I’ll keep spoilers to a minimum.

Cast details

Smith plays Ben Thomas. He’s a suicidal tax auditor, apparently, though he also seems to be a rogue agent, operating without any oversight that we can see. He picks his own targets and picks on them too. Putting in a phone call to customer service telephonist Ezra Turner (Woody Harrelson) Ben comes on like a real asshole. Will Smith making fun of a blind man? Whatever next?

He talks tough to a doctor who runs a care home for the elderly. Then persuades a welfare officer to give him the address of a Latin woman trapped in an abusive relationship (Elpida Carillo – remember her from Salvador and Predator?). Who is this guy and what game is he running?

Seven Pounds: Will Smith, Woody Harrelson

Things don’t get much clearer when he turns his attention to Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson), a woman who's getting in debt trying to meet her medical bills and waiting on a heart transplant operation. She may have just months to live, but does that mean she doesn’t need to file her taxes? Ben decides to cut her some slack and a relationship starts to develop, albeit stalled by the bewildering mixed signals he keeps giving out.

Director Gabriele Muccino directed Smith in The Pursuit Of Happyness, and if you found that movie manipulative you ain’t seen nothing yet. Flashbacks tease out Ben’s motivation, but quite what he has in mind emerges late in the day… At which point many people will be calling for a reality check.

I have to confess I’d checked out well before then – in part because I had a strong hunch where it was heading (correctly as it turned out), and in part because Muccino keeps hitting bum notes. Earnest and trite, the movie feels painfully contrived and airless. There’s none of the dirty realism that served as such an effective counterpoint to the fairytale elements in Pursuit of Happyness.

Smith feels cruelly constrained by the necessity of keeping his character so ambiguous.

Usually so personable on screen, Smith feels cruelly constrained by the necessity of keeping his character so ambiguous. His instinct seems to be to play God with other people’s lives, but at the same time to keep them at arm’s length. We can’t quite trust Ben, so it becomes impossible to warm to him.

If the film has a saving grace it’s Rosario Dawson, an actress who seems more alive than anyone else on screen, no matter that her character has a terminal heart condition.

But even Dawson can’t redeem a parable built out of treacle, sanctimoniousness and sentimental pop tunes.

Reviews

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  • Critics' reviews of Seven Pounds

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  • 2 stars out of

    Its a distinctly frazzled Will Smith we see at the start of this teasing drama. Calling emergency services, he looks... read more on Time Out

    • Trevor Johnston, 
    • Time Out
  • Most helpful members' reviews (3) of Seven Pounds

    View all
  • 267 out of 271 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    29 year old male, and i admit i cryed

    I felt compelled to write this review after just watching this film, and i'm struggling to focus on the screen with all this water in my eyes.

    I had heard and read mixed reviews on this, so was sceptical as to what to expect, but i have to say that i loved this film!

    Granted if you don't like soppy films then don't waste your time with this, it won't appeal to everyone out there, but for those who like nothing better than to sit in one evening with a duvet on the sofa, then i cannot recommend this enough.

    You know get to know the plot of the film from the offset, so there are no real surprises. But even though i knew what was coming, i could not stop the bulge in my throat from happening, and i found myself crying along (I was alone, so it was OK)

    Will Smith's acting is second to none, and as a previous reviewer put it, he does get better with age.

    All i can say to those reading this review is, you must be interested in this type of film otherwise you wouldn't be reading these reviews, so please give it the chance, the worst that can happen is you waste a couple of hours, but you will be in the minority, of that i'm sure.

      • A customer from Birmingham
  • 30 out of 41 people found this review helpful

    * * * This review contains spoilers * * *ShowHide

    Rated - 1 star

    Booooring

      • Lin6663 from Altrincham
  • 23 out of 24 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    is will smith becoming a better actor with age?

    will smith is not just a comedy act, he can also be very serious and is a very good actor. in this drama he plays a man who will change the lives of seven ordinary people who lead normal lives until will smith comes along.

      • A customer from england
  • Most recent members' reviews (2) of Seven Pounds

    View all
  • 1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

    Rated - 2 stars [Highly rated reviewer]

    Disappointing...

    Will Smith is undoubtedly a very talented actor and you could argue that he does a good job here, its just that his character is so closed off that it gives you as the audience little to get a handle on. That proves a fatal flaw in a movie that is slow to the point of morbidity, lacking in humour and emotionally manipulative. What could have been a thought-provking look at the effects of guilt is turned into a guessing game mystery as to Ben's intentions where the pay-off doesn't justify what's been before.

      • TonyPP from Edinburgh
  • 30 out of 41 people found this review helpful

    * * * This review contains spoilers * * *ShowHide

    Rated - 1 star

    Booooring

      • Lin6663 from Altrincham
  • 267 out of 271 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    29 year old male, and i admit i cryed

    I felt compelled to write this review after just watching this film, and i'm struggling to focus on the screen with all this water in my eyes.

    I had heard and read mixed reviews on this, so was sceptical as to what to expect, but i have to say that i loved this film!

    Granted if you don't like soppy films then don't waste your time with this, it won't appeal to everyone out there, but for those who like nothing better than to sit in one evening with a duvet on the sofa, then i cannot recommend this enough.

    You know get to know the plot of the film from the offset, so there are no real surprises. But even though i knew what was coming, i could not stop the bulge in my throat from happening, and i found myself crying along (I was alone, so it was OK)

    Will Smith's acting is second to none, and as a previous reviewer put it, he does get better with age.

    All i can say to those reading this review is, you must be interested in this type of film otherwise you wouldn't be reading these reviews, so please give it the chance, the worst that can happen is you waste a couple of hours, but you will be in the minority, of that i'm sure.

      • A customer from Birmingham
  • 30 out of 41 people found this review helpful

    * * * This review contains spoilers * * *ShowHide

    Rated - 1 star

    Booooring

      • Lin6663 from Altrincham
  • 23 out of 24 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    is will smith becoming a better actor with age?

    will smith is not just a comedy act, he can also be very serious and is a very good actor. in this drama he plays a man who will change the lives of seven ordinary people who lead normal lives until will smith comes along.

      • A customer from england
  • 16 out of 19 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Wonderful

    I've not seen a film as beautiful as this in a while. Love it.

      • A customer from Edinburgh
  • 11 out of 11 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Depth, and thought-provoking - excellent

    This is an excellent movie and definitely worth a watch - if you like something a little sombre, and thought provoking that is. It’s more a Sunday movie than a Friday ‘gee-me-up-for-the-weekend’ kind.

    It puts Will in a very different place from what we have seen in his last few movies - he plays his emotionally charged character very well.

    Any negatives are to do with the plot’s execution (hence 4 stars and not 5). Whilst the story is suspenseful, it all feels very 'bitty' and at times you're left wondering when and how they'll get to the point. This makes it feel a bit disconnected at times, and this could have been tighter in terms of the links/clues that are given along the way.

    That being said, it's a very touching and sensitive story, with an admirable humanitarian angel that leaves a lump in your throat.

    I'm figuring that the title Seven Pounds, draws from Merchant of Venice character Shylock but I say no more......

    I’d definitely see again on DVD (on a Sunday :-)

      • MoJo123 from London
  • 11 out of 11 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Obviously I was watching a different film to the critics..

    After reading through a number of other reviews for this film, I was anticipating a flop from Will Smith... But from start to finish, I was engaged. With marvellous acting from the whole cast (particularly Rosario Dawson... who i must admit I am an avid fan of, particualrly due to my love of 'Sin City' and recognising her of the saving grace from the film adaptation of 'Rent') this film just failed to hit the 'bum notes' some have been suggesting... The drama is intense, the storyline unique and if you're a sensitive soul, tears are likely to flow. I will definately be suggesting this film to my friends... but one word of warning, don't take anyone who finds films 'hard to follow', the only reason for my 4 star rating was having a constant questioner next to me asking what was going on. Just watch the film without trying to understand it and eventually all will become clear...

    The only fault I found with the plot itself was that due to my over active imagination, I had guessed the entire folding out of events after around ten minutes... but no-one else around had guessed any of the secrets and it didn't ruin the film for me in the slightest...

      • A customer from Nottingham
  • 8 out of 8 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Interesting

    This movie is a little slow and although I/we did enjoy it in the end. I have to say both I and my partner very nearly walked out at around the 40 min mark.

    I think it might pay to know, something about the story. We were expecting a typical Will Smith type movie and that this is not.

    It is confusing plot wise but naturally it all comes together at the end and a few tears were shed.

    A good movie for DVD I think, we wouldn't have paid the £12 to see this if we had known something about it, but it was raining and we had time to kill.

      • A customer from Birmingham
  • 8 out of 12 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 2 stars

    Seven Pounds

    One-toned film with no climax - just continues in the same vein and with the same amount of dramatic tension the whole way through. An engaging watch though - while you are there - but wouldn't recommed a second viewing as a large part of the storyline is the tension of not knowing what Will Smilth's secret is.

      • A customer from London
  • 7 out of 9 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Breath-taking!

    I went to see this movie the night it came out, not because the trailer compelled me to see it, or the storyline amazed me, but simply because i am a big Will Smith fan!

    But once the movie had finished i realised it is so much more than just a Will Smith movie. It is one of the best films i have ever seen. It didn't get the very good ratings from critics and i have no idea why. If you haven't seen it yet, GO NOW!

    The title Seven Pounds comes from a shakesperean quote 'a pound of flesh for a pound of flesh', but in this case, it is seven pounds. Because of the neature of how the film is written i cannot explain the storyline very much apart from saying it is about a man who wants to help 7 people in a unique way. You don't know exactly what is going on until the end!

    I came out of the film with tears down my face! It is very emotional, brilliantly acted film and i would reccommend to anyone!

      • kaleylane from Hinckley
  • 5 out of 5 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Seven pounds

    I thought this film was amazing - the pace was hypnotic and not one moment of the film was I distracted by anything else - would highly recommend.

      • Dilwyn from Plymouth
  • Critics' reviews

  • 2 stars out of

    Its a distinctly frazzled Will Smith we see at the start of this teasing drama. Calling emergency services, he looks... read more on Time Out

    • Trevor Johnston, 
    • Time Out

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