Movie Review: Seven Pounds

A sort of emotional follow-up to PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, superstar Will Smith and director Gabriele Muccino team up once again to tug at our heartstrings and get us reaching for the Kleenex in this turgid romantic-drama.

Unlike its surprisingly successful predecessor, which even won Smith an Oscar nomination for Best Actor last year, this offering unfortunately lacks any humour to offset the syrupy, guilt-ridden drama, but is doubtless bound to please a certain audience demographic, mostly female (and probably Oprah Winfrey fans); evidenced by the fact that it has already grossed just under $45 million at the US box office since its release on December 19. Will Smith’s undisputed screen magnetism should also ensure it moderate success in the foreign market when it opens in January/February.

With the screenplay penned by Grant Nieporte (writer of TV sitcom SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH), the story begins by introducing us to Ben Thomas (Smith), an apparently humble IRS agent (i.e. tax collector), simultaneously suggesting that he is not what he seems with nebulous clues about his mysterious background. Haunted by recollections of happier times, before a sudden auto accident put an end to it all, Ben lives alone in a luxurious beach house that is obviously far beyond the means of a lowly Inland Revenue employee.

During the picture’s tortuous first half, Ben visits various individuals with tax problems, at the same time singling out those he feels deserving of good fortune. These include a blind piano player working as a telemarketer (Woody Harrelson), an abused wife and mother (Elpidia Carrillo), a hospital administrator (Kevin Cooney), and finally Emily (Rosario Dawson), an attractive woman suffering from a fatal cardiac condition. While most are treated with compassion and eased of their financial burden, one of them gets the come-uppance so rightly deserved. Once Rosario Dawson appears on the scene, the action veers more in the direction of a traditional love story and it is the developing relationship between Emily and Ben that uplifts the storyline and adds some true feeling that is otherwise lacking.

As Ben’s intentions are gradually revealed and the mystery slowly unfolds - one organ at a time - in the second half, the movie becomes exponentially more predictable and irritating. As does its main protagonist, whose quest for redemption loses all dramatic force the longer it goes on, leading to a finale that is almost as absurd as it is tragic. That being said, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house after the press screening - which means that even the most hard-nosed of the (male) journalists were reaching for their hankies.

Although Muccino, only known for directing various Italian productions (THE LAST KISS) before last year’s PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, creates some emotionally charged interludes during the romantic sequences, there is little light and shade, or any change of tempo. The picture is monotonously lethargic, with hardly any relief. Smith’s charisma carries it through, however, despite his mournful characterization, and here he is greatly helped by Rosario Dawson, who gives the role of Emily much more weight than it might have had. Their screen time together is truly compelling.

SEVEN POUNDS (USA 2008) (German title: SIEBEN LEBEN); Genre: Drama; Running time: 123 minutes; US distribution: Columbia Pictures; US Release date: December 19, 2008; International distribution: Sony Pictures Releasing; German release date: January 8, 2009; Director: Gabriele Muccino; Writer: Grant Nieporte; Composer: Angelo Milli; Main cast: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Michael Ealy, Barry Pepper, Woody Harrelson, Elpidia Carrillo, Cinematographer: Philippe Le Sourd; Production designer: J Michael Riva; Editor: Hughes Winborne