Written by: Grant Nieporte
Starring: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Michael Ealy, Barry Pepper, Woody Harrelson
Rating: [2.5/5]
Guilt has a way of burrowing into our minds and never letting us have peace for the misdeeds of our path. This can get severe for some by even the smallest of bad acts, but when discussed with what transpires in Seven Pounds it reaches a whole different level. This feature definitely takes on quite the journey and one that has sky-high aspirations and fails to hit them.
Following a car crash, Ben Thomas (Will Smith) must endure the guilt of having caused pain because of his actions. This leads him to interact with seemingly random people as he offers to perform good deeds for them. As these deeds continue a connection between them begins to form displaying Ben’s intention all along.
Films like Seven Pounds aim to deliver a devastating emotional gut punch and as the plot unfolds it definitely winds up for quite the reveal. You can simply feel it in the air, especially when this serves as yet another collaboration between Will Smith and director Gabriele Muccino following the very emotional The Pursuit of Happyness. Then you factor in the title of the story pulls in its plot device around Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice” and it sets the table for what should be something forcing you to reach for the tissue box, however, it never quite reaches the height it could.
Some of its struggles appear from its emotional manipulation done in some tasteless ways. A hard line to walk as many could argue any film seeking to make you cry through its story tries to operate in this manipulation but when done well it happens organically. Then there are films like Seven Pounds that need you to cry in order to feel its power in order to distract you from the fairly shoddy filmmaking at times with the knowledge that an emotional gut punch can forgive plenty. A useful tactic for sure, but when every emotional film makes you cry, like me, you can see through the charade.
That’s not to say this feature does not have its high points but leading up to the eventual reveal, it fails to move its story along in a fully engaging manner and proves to be maudlin on more than one occasion. It fails to fully grasp everything happening because it wants to get to the big reveal so badly and prove to you how emotionally moving this whole narrative is, it forgets to make the first two-thirds something worth watching. This makes for a top-heavy story where the emotional highs work so well but everything else does not.
Of the many individuals Ben interacts with, they each have their own story and issue going on, which splinters the story into different segments with a couple of them merging together in moments. Each of them comes with varying levels of quality but the one most insistent and grabbing you by the feelings comes from his interactions with Emily (Rosario Dawson). It brings a sense of romance as well as the larger play of the narrative as a whole, which begs you to cry due to what you see on-screen. It also demonstrates some of the cracks of the story at its ugliest when it demonstrates not only the manipulation of the story but of Ben as well. Ultimately, the scenes Ben and Emily share serve as a microcosm for the entire film, but it does produce the finest performance of the lot by Rosario Dawson.
While Will Smith brings what he usually does with each role, which is endless charisma and emotional gravitas, Emily proved to be the heart and soul of the movie in more ways than one if you know what I mean. She serves as an excellent acting partner for Smith as they navigate the tragic story of Emily and how she plays into the larger narrative. Dawson rarely mails it in but this serves as one of her finer performances and more than holds her own with Smith as they go back and forth in their attempts to pull at the audience’s heartstrings.
Without a doubt, Seven Pounds will work for many as it will make you cry because of the inherent sadness of the story, but when it has this sheer desperation to do so inorganically, it leaves quite the distaste once the final credits roll. It gets the job done, which I cannot begrudge it too much for but it does not necessarily mean the film gets a pass on what the narrative tries to pull. Evidently, it lands right in the middle for me as something I can respect but did not necessarily enjoy.
Films with Josh 
