Oh, Will Smith and Gabriele Muccino, your latest collaboration, Seven Pounds, misses it by that much.
To be fair, though – can I pass judgment on a movie, if I was in and out of sleep while watching it? I’m going to say yes since I don’t suppose making an audience catch some zzzs ever was the intention of the star and director of The Pursuit of Happyness.
Smith, who has made a billion-dollar career out of playing beacons of hope, takes on, perhaps, his darkest role yet as Ben Thomas, an IRS agent scarred by loss of the most unthinkable sort.
Governed by tremendous guilt, Ben has devised a secret plan to redeem himself, to excuse his existence and make it meaningful, by forever changing the lives of seven strangers.
That’s about all I knew going into Seven Pounds, and I didn’t know what any of it was supposed to mean. The studio behind the movie was that vague in promoting it, so I didn’t know whether Smith was going to turn out to be an alien or an angel.
He’s – Spoiler Alert! – neither. He’s just a man, broken into a million little pieces. Smith does an excellent job at conveying this vagueness (for much too long), but he fails to make Ben a sympathetic fellow. I couldn’t connect to him in this one.
By the time we’re told the poignant reason of Ben’s unraveling, the revelation doesn’t pack a mean punch, but it’s strong enough that it’ll have people in tears – I know it did at the screening I attended last month. So bring a hanky.
The heart of Seven Pounds, though, is Rosario Dawson, which is a bit ironic considering she plays a print artist with congenital heart failure.
Her Emily humanizes Ben in ways that Smith can’t, and in any given year – and had this movie been better – I dare say Dawson would be enjoying some nods from all the awards people this season. She’s a luminous revelation.
But this movie’s just too heavy, or better yet, too heavy-handed for its own good. Still, I don’t see how it will fail commercially – we heart Smith enough to allow him this sanctimonious misstep.
My Rating **
To be fair, though – can I pass judgment on a movie, if I was in and out of sleep while watching it? I’m going to say yes since I don’t suppose making an audience catch some zzzs ever was the intention of the star and director of The Pursuit of Happyness.Smith, who has made a billion-dollar career out of playing beacons of hope, takes on, perhaps, his darkest role yet as Ben Thomas, an IRS agent scarred by loss of the most unthinkable sort.
Governed by tremendous guilt, Ben has devised a secret plan to redeem himself, to excuse his existence and make it meaningful, by forever changing the lives of seven strangers.
That’s about all I knew going into Seven Pounds, and I didn’t know what any of it was supposed to mean. The studio behind the movie was that vague in promoting it, so I didn’t know whether Smith was going to turn out to be an alien or an angel.
He’s – Spoiler Alert! – neither. He’s just a man, broken into a million little pieces. Smith does an excellent job at conveying this vagueness (for much too long), but he fails to make Ben a sympathetic fellow. I couldn’t connect to him in this one.
By the time we’re told the poignant reason of Ben’s unraveling, the revelation doesn’t pack a mean punch, but it’s strong enough that it’ll have people in tears – I know it did at the screening I attended last month. So bring a hanky.
The heart of Seven Pounds, though, is Rosario Dawson, which is a bit ironic considering she plays a print artist with congenital heart failure.
Her Emily humanizes Ben in ways that Smith can’t, and in any given year – and had this movie been better – I dare say Dawson would be enjoying some nods from all the awards people this season. She’s a luminous revelation.
But this movie’s just too heavy, or better yet, too heavy-handed for its own good. Still, I don’t see how it will fail commercially – we heart Smith enough to allow him this sanctimonious misstep.
My Rating **
Photo: Teaser-Trailer.com.
2 comments:
I'll see Yes Man instead then
What a turd this was.
Do you get the Black List every year? Can you believe this was on it?
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