REVIEW: Seven Pounds

STARRING: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 12/19/2008 DATE SCREENED: 12/17/2008 The Verdict OK - Wait for the DVD

Will Smith takes on a dramatic role in his 2nd release of 2008, Seven Pounds. The advertising campaign seems to have been carefully crafted to make it difficult to figure out exactly what the film is about. I guess you can get away with that when Will Smith is the star of the movie, but the cryptic nature of the advertising has annoyed me. Word of mouth will probably be very important to the success of this film, and I think people’s feelings will generally be mixed.

The opening scene of Seven Pounds shows a very emotional Ben Thomas (Will Smith) on the phone with 911. He’s reporting a suicide… his own. The story then backs up to show how things got to that point. Ben is an IRS agent who seems to be auditing only people with serious health problems. It turns out he’s not just visiting these people for the IRS, but also for himself. He has some kind of “gift” for these people that will change their lives, but he must figure out if they are worthy of receiving this gift. Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson) is one such person, suffering from heart disease. She takes a liking to Ben once he informs her that her back taxes will be put on hold for the next six months due to her condition. Emily’s smile is irresistible, and Ben’s icy exterior slowly begins to melt. He is soon getting to know her on a more personal level, far beyond what is necessary to decide if she is worthy of his “gift”. Throughout the film there are flashbacks to Ben’s wife, who we can gather must have been killed in a car accident. Between visits with Emily, we also see Ben helping and "interviewing" other sick people. As his relationship with Emily grows stronger it makes it harder to see how Ben is going to become suicidal. All is revealed when the movie kicks into high gear for the conclusion.

The chemistry between Will Smith and Rosario Dawson is very good. Both are very good actors, who are a joy to watch on screen. Their relationship is very touching. The slow build up of their relationship does help to increase the dramatic tension at the end. The problem is that when Will and Rosario were not on screen together I was completely bored. Without knowing what was really going on, it didn’t take long for me to lose interest in a lot of what was happening on screen. Even the build up of Ben and Emily’s relationship started to seem too slow. After 90 minutes I thought I had been sitting for over 2 hours. The ending is well done and very emotional, but I think some people will have problems waiting to get to that ending. I found myself sitting in the theater wishing I had a fast forward button. I grew up in the same neighborhood as Will Smith, so I hope for the very best any time he puts out a movie. But in this case I can only recommend people wait for the DVD of Seven Pounds. The film did receive a good round of applause from the audience, so maye the reaction won't be as mixed as I think it will be.