Seven Pounds Movie Review
Directed by Gabriele Muccino
Starring Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, and Barry Pepper
Back in the day when I used to watch the Fresh Prince I would have never thought I would utter the following sentence. Will Smith is a great actor. Hell, I Am Legend would have been total garbage if it wasnt for him in the role. When I first saw the trailer I was hooked. I was just hoping it wasnt the obvious Oscar cannon fodder. You know the movies, the ones that try to hit point a, b, c in hopes of manipulating the audience into thinking the movie is better than what it really is. I think Seven Pounds steers clear of this and is more of a subtle burn. In a movie that could have had more emotional outbursts and flashy dialogue the movie downplayed it for a more realistic tone that served it better in the end.
Before I saw the movie I already knew the ending. Some idiot forum poster spoiled it for dozens of people. Even knowing the "surprise" ending the movie still worked for me. After 20 minutes into the movie I turned to my wife and asked her if she knew how it was going to end and she nailed it on the head. Maybe some will figure it out early on and some may not till the last half of the movie but either way the material is strong enough on its own.
This will be a fairly spoiler free synopsis. Ben(Will Smith) is struggling with something in his past. Its slowly revealed through flashbacks throughout the movie. For this horrible act that happened he wants to "redeem" himself and find people that are worthy for his help. On his journey he befriends a lady (Rosario Dawson) and gets closer to her then he originally anticipated. Despite everything thats happening around him he's bent on fulfilling his mission at all costs.
This is a great movie. I havent read many reviews yet so im not sure how its going to be received. I can see how some might say its not flashy enough. Or how its so obvious what is going to happen, but I think those critics are missing the point. Even though the movie is shrouded in secrecy I think its purpose is to go beyond that and show how a flawed man and how "we" can still make a difference. Not very many movies get into the great range (8-10) in my ratings but this movie definitely deserves it. On a scale of 1-10 I give this a 'horse in a motel room' 8.4 out of 10.