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.
Star Trek was the first movie of the summer that I was able to see. Ironically enough, it was the last movie I saw before my little boy was born, so it was definitely memorable just in that. I have already reviewed it 
This movie was memorable for many reasons: 1) it was the first movie my wife and I saw together after having our boy, and 2) it sparked one of the best movie discussions on expectations in Truth On Cinema history. Michael Bay brought us another blow-it-up action movie about robots that we loved as kids, but this time, our imaginations were stifled by slow-mo explosions and the exploitation of 
I haven’t yet, but am meaning to, write up my full review on the 6th installment of the glorious Harry Potter franchise, so for now, consider this my mini-review-teaser-for-the-full-review-to-come-later. Like I have exhaustively said, I came to the HP party very late and read all of the books prior to seeing any of the movies, this one being the first in the theaters, so having said that: I generally liked this movie a lot but felt that a lot of was left out. A lot of people complain about there being too much “teeny-bopper-love” stuff and not enough action, and while I agree that the end of the movie was a complete failure in capturing the enormity of the battle, I actually really liked the fact that David Yates focused on the relationships more than the good vs. evil saga that can grow weary. Look for my full review later.
Once again, Public Enemies is a movie that I have not fully written up, so just like Harry Potter, this will be my review quick-hit. I absolutely loved this movie! There, is that enough of a review quick-hit?! I am a Michael Mann fan and a Johnny Depp fan to the end, so for me, this was the perfect storm. It had everything for me: action, a historical base, the mob (which I am a huge fan of), organized crime in the 60′s, and Johnny Depp. The two biggest let-downs for me were: Christian Bale and his accent. I thought his character was too big for him.
Ok, so it seems that I have a lot of full-length reviews to write because here is another movie that I haven’t published my review of yet. This was the most recent summer movie I was able to see and let me tell you: this movie is one of the Top 10 Best Sci-Fi Films in the last two decades. What a mind blowing movie! I think the factor that takes this film into “unbelievable” territory is the fact that the film only cost $30 million to make. What is that, like a tenth of the horrific failure Transformers 2?! Don’t walk, run to the theaters while it’s still there and discover one of the true gems of the summer.
For my full review, 
So it may be a little taboo to bring this movie since John Hughes’ passing is still pretty fresh, but this was one of those movies that I had somehow missed when I was growing up. My wife exclaimed to me one day while discussing our childhood movies, “WHAT?! You haven’t seen Pretty In Pink and you consider yourself a child of the 80′s?!” So, lo and behold, I dove head first into neon colors and bangs to find a sweet and lovable movie that would have totally been one of my favorites as a young kid. I am sure everyone says this, but seeing as how I am 20 years late to this film I am excused, but I loved Duckie! I thought Jon Cryer was the best thing about this film. Molly Ringwald was just like I expected her to be: neurotic, weird, into her own thing, yet still mainstream enough to draw us in. And Andrew McCarthy as the confused “I-am-rich-and-snobby-yet-am-intrigued-by-this-lower-class-girl” boy was mediocre at best. In the end, I am glad that Duckie didn’t end up with Ringwald, that just wouldn’t fit with the characters; they are best friends until the end, not lovers. All in all, it was a nice trip back to the 80′s where sweet and corny were still cool and not “classic.”
For the full write-up of what I thought about Smart People, feel free to 
One doesn’t have to look too far to notice the similarities (almost downright retreads) between this film and the other indie darling with Sunshine in the title. Both of the films have a quirky setting in the desert, a kid who speaks and carries on conversations beyond his age, a sarcastic and realistic dad, and they both deal with family drama. I think 
(The second review of four movies that I saw at the 
(The first review of four movies that I saw at the 
