Before I say anything, I need to say this: I don't watch movies as art, I often go for sappy ones, and I have always liked Will Smith (as an actor—he lost my respect as a person when he converted to Scientology. That said, I legitimately enjoyed Seven Pounds. Possibly for those reasons.
The story of one man's struggle to redeem himself of the burdens of guilt and responsibility, Seven Pounds follows Ben Thomas on a mysterious quest to apparently re-invent Robin Hood as an IRS agent. Much of the power of the movie revolves around keeping details a secret, so I will do my best not to ruin anything (even though the basics are pretty easy to figure out). From the beginning, it's obvious that they mean for you to be confused. To put the pieces together yourself only so that they can rearrange them for you later. In this they almost succeed. The dialogue is simple and effective, in a word: believable. Grant Nieporte, who I understand to be a newcomer to the world of movies, is very adept at telling us exactly what he wants to tell us without spoon feeding it to us. He makes Ben a real person in that all his secrets aren't laid out for us to see. We are meant to dissect his motivations and feelings as the movie progresses. This can be challenging, as there are scenes legitimately intended to make us question him. When, in the course of the opening five minutes, Ben had already made disparaging and racist remarks (via phone) to a salesman, I began to wonder if I could in fact stomach the rest of the film...I could.
In fact, I practically devoured it. Even after I had put all the pieces together, the picture I had was one I simply could not resist seeing completed. There were points that brought me to the verge of tears. Not the sad, Hollywood tears that we're meant to cry when a hero dies. Rather, the tears that say “I can't believe that just happened.” Tears that are both joyful and depressed. Ben seems to run his operation on a loose set of guidelines and morals, and it is amazing to watch him implement what he sees as justice. Most of the time, I agreed with his ends while sometimes doubting his means. But given the way the film progressed and eventually ended, that's understandable.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves: the film is far from perfect. There are flashback sections that are, quite frankly, very good at making me feel like something is wrong. Did I just hit the scene skip? No... this is an incredibly oversubtle flashback. These segments are much like American banking of late: Sometimes they work, and sometimes they fail miserably. Add to that a forced romance and the flaws of Seven Pounds start to become an issue. Perhaps suffering from the same subtlety I so recently praised, the romance that develops between Ben and one of his wards, Emily Posa, seems to progress very quickly and seldom logically. At the point wherein he was at her house everyday without her permission (often in her backyard or workshop without her knowledge) and she didn't seem at all worried, I realized there would need to be some suspension of logic here. With that step taken, the film improved tremendously.
By the time the film had reached it's dramatic-if-somewhat-predictable conclusion, I was devoted to it. Smith's dark humor and broken demeanor built marvelously into a very powerful conclusion and I suddenly realized why such are far-fetched relationship was necessary. This is a story of sacrifice, and by the time I was finished watching it, I felt like I was carrying around a few extra pounds of my own. Somehow, despite its flaws, this film got into my head and affected me on a deep level. I felt just a tinge of what Ben felt, and I rejoiced in his final acts. Whether or not the principles behind his plan for self-redemption are sound is something that will vary with the viewer, but no one can deny that what Ben does is incredible. All of his insanity, his energy and pain add up into a beautiful whole for his final scene. And I almost wish they had ended it there.
The closing scene was not bad, per se. It merely failed to live up to the rest of the film's power. It was almost too blatant, too obvious. Like a subtitle that said “In case you didn't get it... here's what happened. Now isn't that wonderful?”
I admit that this review is a bit bipolar, perhaps because it's been tainted by my discussion of the film with others. When I was done watching, I was convinced that I had just been a part of something wonderful. That magic faded in the face of logic and the real world. My advice to you for Seven Pounds is the same as for most movies: don't think too hard. Experience it. That is where it's power lies.
Her character is described as "a woman who who runs her father’s aerospace company and hires cocky test pilot Hal Jordan (Reynolds), who later becomes the intergalactic policeman Green Lantern. In the comics, the romance became complicated when an alien race bestowed her the power of a crystal called the Star Sapphire."
