3 Stars:
Will Smith is probably the classiest guy in Hollywood. I don't know the guy, so I base that off of interviews that I've seen, but every time I see him on TV or whatever I think this is a fun guy and he gets it. That said, I'm not a huge fan of his movies. His movies are popcorn flicks for the most part. Then he did "Ali" and "The Pursuit of Happyness." After he did those two we all realized that this guy really can act. His movies seem to get better and better.
"Seven Pounds" was a movie I probably wouldn't have normally taken the time to watch. My wife DVRs "Oprah" (I swear she DVRs it and not me). I happened to catch the episode on "Oprah" where Will Smith and Rosario Dawson were on promoting "Seven Pounds" and they sold me. They claimed it is a movie you can't really talk about or you'll give everything away and that is the problem with this movie.
Will Smith plays Ben Thomas who works for the IRS to collect outstanding debts. In one of the opening scenes we see Ben in a hotel room calling 911 notifying them of a suicide and then in the next scene we see Ben taunting this blind salesman over the phone. He's yelling at him to not be a coward without getting a reaction from the blind man (played by Woody Harrelson). Then he hangs up the phone and just starts screaming and crying seven names. It all makes sense in the end but at the time it makes no sense, but you're kind of intrigued.
Over the next few scenes Ben approaches people who owe outstanding debts to the IRS and based on whether or not they're good people he decides to give them an extension or not. One of the people he approaches is Emily Posa played by Rosario Dawson. She owes over $56K, but she's also diagnosed with a terminal heart condition. She has a device that if it lights up that means a replacement heart is available, kind of like waiting for a table at a restaurant. Ben decides that she is a good human being. The weird thing is that the people that he deems good enough, he will help them out in more ways than one. He'll give them the time they need. In the process of giving Emily Posa the attention she needs, she falls in love with him and him her. I can't go on or I'll give the movie away, but you may be able to figure out what happens just based on what I've told you so far.
This movie is neat, but it's not hard to figure out what's going on about 1/2 way through the movie, but that doesn't matter. I wish they would have told this movie straight forward. Instead of revealing everything at the end, they should have revealed it all at the beginning and see if he'll actually go through with what he wants to go through with.
The acting in this movie is great. This is probably the best performance that Rosario Dawson has ever given. This may be Will Smith's greatest performance as well, but he was really good in both "Ali" and "The Pursuit of Happyness." Woody Harrelson also gives an incredibly strong performance. The movie is really good in almost all aspects, except for the filmmaking which is unfortunately an incredibly important. I think a lot of people will enjoy this movie regardless, but this could have been something special.
BYLINE:
Bob Zerull is a frequent movie and concert goer who talks about his ventures to arenas and theaters more than any person should be allowed to do. Now, he puts them down on paper. Email him your thoughts at: bzerull19@gmail.com.
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