Saturday, December 20, 2008

Seven Pounds


Will Smith can do almost anything, except make the ending of Seven Pounds easy to swallow. It is mawkish, emotionally manipulative and ridiculous.

Harsh? Yes, but how else would you react after sitting through two hours of a film that begins with the main character calling 911 to report his own suicide?

Smith plays Ben Thomas, an IRS agent down in the dumps over a tragic mistake he made. He has embarked on a plan to help seven strangers.

Smith, to his credit, masks all the qualities that he usually has at his disposal, mainly his considerable charm and sense of humor. We see only glimpses. The rest of the time, Smith is sullen, using bits of his charm to intrude into the lives of strangers to determine if they are in fact good people. It is an intense performance that keeps you engaged throughout much of the film.

You are pulled into the mystery of who Ben Thomas is and what he is doing. At times, he is rude; other times, kind. You, as the viewer, are continually thrown off.
But the director, Gabriele Muccino, shows his hands way too early, and by the first half, the audience has figured out Thomas' secret and what he plans to do. And so the film drags for another hour, as Thomas falls in love with Emily Posa, a vibrant woman with congenital heart failure. He wants to help her, but his plan hits a bump when he develops feelings for her.
Rosario Dawson plays Emily not as a victim but a woman who is trying to face her grim situation with a bit of hope. Her relationship with Thomas brings new life, however brief, to a man run down with grief.
Then the twist comes, not much of a shock, but one that is polarizing. Some in the audience will be touched. Others, like me, will just feel ripped off. The movie never earns the emotional payoff it is seeking. In many ways, the film is a cop out and you don't have once ounce of sympathy for the decision Thomas makes at the end, however altruistic it might seem.
What is this film trying to say? I don't know. The message of redemption is muddled by a main character who somehow sees himself as some flawed Christ-figure who can make amends through masochistic suffering.
I applaud Smith for taking chances with his acting and trying dark roles. But this just doesn't work.