Will Smith is everyone’s favourite Bel Air-dwelling, alien-killing, wise-cracking Man in Black. Seeing him down and sombre can be a very disconcerting experience for a viewer. In Seven Pounds, his character is not a happy bunny. He is moody, introverted, secretive and sometimes cruel. Add a languid pace and a blindingly obvious twist, and you have a recipe for an equally moody audience. Only fans of weepy dramas need apply.
Luckily, I do fall at least somewhat into that category and I found many things to like about this tale of grief, guilt and redemption. Ben Thomas (Smith) is a tax investigator with a secret plan to help seven strangers. The ‘how’ and ‘why’ parts of his plan are not made clear, leading to a very confusing opening act. Things should fall into place quite rapidly after that for most observant viewers.
The film’s focus then falls on his relationship with one of the strangers, Emily (Rosario Dawson). Whether or not you enjoy the rest of the film depends on whether you find her annoying or not. She is the stereotypical dying girl with a failing heart of gold, cute dog and quirky taste in music, but I somehow ended up caring about her plight. This is wholly down to Ms Dawson and her electric smile; she continues to impress me in every film I see her in.
Smith without his charisma is a hard sell, and Seven Pounds’ quietly moving moments may not be enough to counteract that. The bottom line: wait for the DVD and a night you feel a bit miserable and want to wallow in it.
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