2.5 out of 5 stars (decent)
First of all, this is one of Will Smith’s dramas, not comedies. Second, it’s more aimed at adults then kids. Third, Will Smith is the only person that could have been picked for this role.
In Seven Pounds, Smith portrays Ben Thomas, a somewhat sympathetic IRS agent with anger issues. Ben can change the lives of seven people who are deep in debt to the government drastically. the seven people are Ezra (Woody Harrelson), a man who works at a meat factory, a child, a blind pianist named Dan (Barry Pepper) , a horrible boss of a hospital, a silent patient at that hospital, an woman named Sarah (Robinne Lee) and her children who have been treated violently by her boyfriend, and Emily (Rosario Dawson), a woman who can’t pay the government because of her congenital heart problem.
I can’t give you much more or it will spoil the movie. But I can tell you that Ben falls in love with Emily.
I liked this movie because it moved at a steady pace and the acting was very good. Rosario Dawson is fresh off her fame from Eagle Eye, and I recognized her almost immediately. The film is deep and complicated, and if you miss 5 minutes, the movie will be even more confusing then it already is.
But the film is long, and in the middle it slows down a little bit. Luckily, the movie speeds back up pretty quickly.
2008 has been a big year for Will Smith. There was his summer action movie Hancock, and now Seven Pounds. I bet that Will Smith would love to just take a break from moviemaking and just relax.
Rated PG-13 for Language, Frightening Images, and a scene of Sensuality