The last 20 minutes of SEVEN POUNDS are so sweepingly emotional that they would send you into convulsive sobs, if it weren't for the fact that the 90 minutes leading up to that are so ridiculously unintelligible that you won't give a crap when you do get to the end.
The title of the film is vague, and Sony Pictures has done a lot of hard work to keep critics, ads and previews from divulging too much information about SEVEN POUNDS. And you might think this is meant to keep the surprise from being spoiled. But now that I've seen the film, it might just be that critics are so freaking confused that they don't know what to say. (Check out A.O. Scott's review...it's hilarious!)
Will Smith plays Ben Thomas (I think). If you have a high level of patience, you won't mind waiting until the 20 minute mark (I kept track) to find out who the hell he is. At that point, it's only another short five minutes until you get a flicker of understanding as to why Ben is in such a sour mood. And it will take another 20 minutes after that (and now you are closing in on the hour mark) before you really start to figure out what is going on.
Whether you will care at this point is up to you.
I cared about Ben in the opening scene and the closing moments. Given that the film is constructed in loopy flashbacks--like "Citizen Kane" meets "The Matrix"--I guess I didn't care much about anything but "the present."
What gets me is that Gabriele Muccino, the film's director, thinks we are going to be willing to go along for the ride like this for so long. We are kept in the dark and strung along, and I found it all to be quite ballsy and arrogant on the part of the director. He uses confusion and the magnetism of Will Smith himself (and he's as good as usual) to force me to squirm through to the end. Hell, if I've invested almost an hour to figure out what the hell is happening (somewhat), than he's got me for the next hour to see how it all comes together.
I won't spoil anything, either. I will say that the film's climax and the resolution of what is going on truly does make for compelling theatre, even if it's sappy and melodramatic.
The good news is that by the end, what Ben is trying to do WILL make sense, and it's powerful. But SHAME ON the journey that gets you to there! I'll take a Hitchcockian structure over this crap any day! Let me know right up front who did what...let me see it.
And let ME make the decision for myself that I'm still interested in following the story because I actually CARE about the character! SEVEN POUNDS refers to how much heavier you will feel when you're done watching this movie.
1.5 out of 4
The title of the film is vague, and Sony Pictures has done a lot of hard work to keep critics, ads and previews from divulging too much information about SEVEN POUNDS. And you might think this is meant to keep the surprise from being spoiled. But now that I've seen the film, it might just be that critics are so freaking confused that they don't know what to say. (Check out A.O. Scott's review...it's hilarious!)
Will Smith plays Ben Thomas (I think). If you have a high level of patience, you won't mind waiting until the 20 minute mark (I kept track) to find out who the hell he is. At that point, it's only another short five minutes until you get a flicker of understanding as to why Ben is in such a sour mood. And it will take another 20 minutes after that (and now you are closing in on the hour mark) before you really start to figure out what is going on.
Whether you will care at this point is up to you.
I cared about Ben in the opening scene and the closing moments. Given that the film is constructed in loopy flashbacks--like "Citizen Kane" meets "The Matrix"--I guess I didn't care much about anything but "the present."
What gets me is that Gabriele Muccino, the film's director, thinks we are going to be willing to go along for the ride like this for so long. We are kept in the dark and strung along, and I found it all to be quite ballsy and arrogant on the part of the director. He uses confusion and the magnetism of Will Smith himself (and he's as good as usual) to force me to squirm through to the end. Hell, if I've invested almost an hour to figure out what the hell is happening (somewhat), than he's got me for the next hour to see how it all comes together.
I won't spoil anything, either. I will say that the film's climax and the resolution of what is going on truly does make for compelling theatre, even if it's sappy and melodramatic.
The good news is that by the end, what Ben is trying to do WILL make sense, and it's powerful. But SHAME ON the journey that gets you to there! I'll take a Hitchcockian structure over this crap any day! Let me know right up front who did what...let me see it.
And let ME make the decision for myself that I'm still interested in following the story because I actually CARE about the character! SEVEN POUNDS refers to how much heavier you will feel when you're done watching this movie.
1.5 out of 4
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