Dir. Gabriele Muccino
Starring: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson
Grade: C-
Having just seen Seven Pounds, it struck me that the notoriously ambiguous marketing strategy and misguided measures taken by its studio to “protect” audiences from the film's surprises were awfully unnecesssary – the only thing audiences needed protection from is this schmaltz fest dressed up as a contemplative look at life, death, and sacrifice. It doesn’t help either that the film and its premise are as predictable as thunder after lightning. Perhaps this is the reason why the trailer is so disjointed– anything even hinting at a plot would have given the whole preposterous enterprise away.
Without giving away much, I guess, I will say that the film stars Will Smith as Ben Thomas, a melancholy man working as an IRS agent who has experienced a traumatic event. Said event put him on the very journey we are made privy to, as he meets up various strangers and selects the best of the lot to share in his graces. The film also involves jellyfish…yes, jellyfish. I’ll stop here because anything more would “spoil” any surprises.
Smith’s prior collaboration with Muccino was “The Pursuit of Happyness,” a film I thoroughly enjoyed. There, Smith’s vulnerability and Jimmy Stewart-like everyman qualities were mined to splendid results. Here, however, Smith seems to falter. Thomas faces difficult, often ridiculous twists and turns, and it is difficult to imagine any other actor emerging unscathed from this utter mess. Rosario Dawson, on the other hand, is the highlight of the film in a very touching performance. Other than Dawson, I thought the soundtrack (with tracks by favorites of mine like Muse, Nick Drake and Charles Aznavour) featured a few gems that supplemented some (though not all) of the film's failures. The talent in the film is undeniable – without them, this script would have probably never seen the light of day and, frankly, we would have been better off without it.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Short Takes: Seven Pounds
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8 comments:
I skipped a chance I had to see this in December, because it just doesn't look good to me at all, as you pretty much lay out here.
But I do love Rosario Dawson and will eventually see it just for her. She made me cry in Men in Black 2, and I think she is one of the best actresses around. Glad you took to her performance, can't wait to see that, if nothing else in this film.
I also think highly of Rosario dawson, and I guess for that reason I will look at the screener that someone just gave me for this. (I never got around to it in the theatre.) I agree with you Dorothy that at least THE PURSUIT...had some emotional connection, and that what you say here in this superb capsule is exactly what I was expecting. It does have a few fans, but most haven't been too kind.
Soooooooooooo nice to see the love for Rosario Dawson here. She's truly an underrated actor. And more often than not, she makes terrific choices in terms of roles. I hope she gets better vehicles to feature her huge talent.
I think Rosario Dawson is a fine actress as well. It is good to hear she makes something out of her role in such an otherwise lackluster picture.
Jellyfish here; perhaps the squid will be kept in the Oldboy remake Will Smith is planning to star in.
Fine review, Dorothy. I may check this out on DVD one day. Or perhaps not.
I think the marketing campaign was a big mistake. My first reaction to the trailer was "WTF was that?" and I don't think I was alone.
The studio banked on the fact that people will show up to a Will Smith film no matter what. Turns out no one really cared.
Alexander: I have a strange thing for bad movies -- the worse they are, the more I want to see them (on DVD, I wouldn't shed a ticket price on such dreck). It's almost like an autopsy where you can dissect every thing that went wrong with any given film. I'm kinda morose that way. I'd recommend you check it out if only for how ridiculous the whole thing is. Of course, Dawson is a welcome surprise, but even she can't rescue it.
Matthew: I had the exact same reaction! I was like, ok, "that was not helpful at all," after seeing the dumb trailer. But curiosity prevailed on this one and since I saw it gratis, I figured why not. Biggest lesson indeed is that Will Smith is not infallible.
Great points, Dorothy, about the amusing task it can be to analyze where a trainwreck of a movie went so wrong.
Not to mention the educational value, of course!
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