Seven Pounds Is a Damned Good Film: The Critics Are Wrong, So What Else Is New?
I went to a screening of Seven Pounds tonight in Beverly Hills, thinking it might be a waste of time considering the blasting it's gotten by many of the critics. I was careful not to read any reviews, except for a couple of headlines, but since there seemed to be a consensus among a good deal of the film assessors I wasn't expecting much.
Well, as a TV and Film professional, I can only explain it away by making an analogy to the old saying, "Those who can, do, those who can't (in this case creatively work in the entertainment industry) become critics."
I'm not saying they're always wrong, but with Seven Pounds they definitely are. It's not a fabulous film and it's a bit tedious at times, but it's intriguing from the outset and holds you in suspense until the very end.
We open with Ben Thomas, played by the usually affable and winning Will Smith, in the midst of a dire circumstance followed by his character acting like a real asshole. He's an IRS agent and while I in no way want to remotely express a prejudice against this profession (do you think I'm crazy with tax return season coming up?), he gets involved in the lives of several people in a very questionable way.
In particular, he takes an interest in Emily Posa, played engagingly and in an often confused state by Rosario Dawson, who owes the government a bundle and is apparently on the list for a heart transplant. Ben's taking an interest in her is really a euphemism for what some might consider stalking, and we're not sure what's going on, nor do we have a real clue for much of the film.
In fact, most of the people he investigates are in some kind of trouble and it almost appears that this picture will be a sort of return to classic TV's The Millionaire show. This is mostly due to his interaction with best friend Dan, played by Barry Pepper, who is exhorted to carry out his legal instructions for the aforementioned Dawson, a blind man portrayed by Woody Harrelson, a dialysis patient played by Bill Smitrovich and a battered woman played by Elpidia Carrillo. One begins to think this is all because Ben Thomas has a terminal illness and is evidently not long for this world. Or is he? Well, you'll just have to go see the film to find out.
Seven Pounds is as much a love story as a whodunit and a tale of redemption. What is Ben Thomas' motivation and what does he hope to get? Even while treading water through some of the soapier scenes, and there are a few -- but not too many, you never want to leave your seat, because there could be a piece of the puzzle you just might miss.
Writer Grant Nieporte and Director Gabriele Muccino have provided a satisfying and somewhat different take on a romantic thriller, maybe not on the level of North By Northwest, because no one's on the verge of getting murdered, but the precipice of circumstances upon which Smith and Dawson have to maneuver are no less daunting than Mount Rushmore.
Seven Pounds has gotten an unfair and raw deal from a lot of critics, with some exceptions. However, this writer advises that you may very well be more than satisfied.
Michael Russnow's web site is www.ramproductionsinternational.com
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I am so glad that someonw besides me enjoyed this film!
wait a minute... a black man not playing a pimp(terrence howard in hustle and flow), a crooked cop(denzel washington in training day), a drug using womanizer( jamie foxx in Ray), a submissive car driver( morgan freeman in driving miss daisy)... Will, your character is too positive for a black man to receive an Oscar nod. You are playing an engineer who graduated from MIT who has a soul and remorseful... This can't be. Black men are inherently criminal. They are killers, rapists, thieves... This is not true to life
oh I forgot one, the physically abusive husband ( laurence fishburne as Ike Turner in What's Love Have to Do With It)
With the exception of the gorgeous Great Dane, this movie was dark and depressing. I didn't buy into the whole premise of the film. I love Will Smith, but his performance in Seven Pounds was flat and laborious to watch. A big disappointment, but, hey, you can't win 'em all.
I saw Seven Pounds last weekend and really enjoyed it. It was very sad, but I was glad I saw it. The redemption message reminded me of "The Mission".
Will, Will, Will, new rule: Please never make another movie that romanticizes suicide. Sure, you're right, it's not making everyone that sees it go out and commit suicide.... but what about those just teetering? You do realize you can make a living without giving those folks any unnecessary nudges... right?
Everything you say and do, can and does effect your world more than most folks.
Love ya always. Wouldn't say anything but I strive to prevent suicides. The last thing in the world I need is the likes of Will Smith making my work harder. Hugz.
As a professional in the film business, I've seen my share of critcal hatchet jobs. But critics also serve a purpose, and the unstated assertion of Mr. Russnow's post is that somehow people who make movies know better what's good than critics or anyone else who doesn't also make movies.
I would point out to Russnow that it was film professionals, and not critics who gave us Battlefield Earth, Batman & Robin, Cutthroat Island, Waterworld, and Meet The Spartans, just to name a few. In fact, I would say that his assertion that this atrocious movie is actually very good stands as a testament to the capacity for ineptitude that we all - film pro and non-film pro alike - are capable of.
In fact, he doesn't ever offer any kind of critical insight into the film beyond noting the film's mild similarities to an old TV show. In fact, the entire article rests solely on the premise that someone who works as a professional in the film and television business is better suited to determine what makes a film good than anyone else. It should also be pointed out that a quick perusal of Mr. Russnow's credits indicates that he is only a television professional, and does not actually work in the film industry. I do not think this would be relevant in any way, save the fact that Mr. Russnow has claimed that his professional standing qualifies his views to trump those of the vast majority of film
I saw it and liked it. I always make up my own mind, regardless of critics.
I am sorry but it was a TERRIBLE movie. I walked out of the theartre in a small state of depression. That the Will's character felt suicide was the way out to amend for his accident was just over the top.
AND let's be honest, is this the kind of movie you want to see at Christmas??
I wish I hadn't and I wish I had never seen it. Lately Will seems to think dying at the end of his movies or going off to live a life of loneliness and despair makes his moves somehow "better" and they ain't.
I am legend, dies
7 pounds dies
Hancock. goes away to be lonely and on his own.
I Robot wasn't exactly a fun movie either.
So while he is making flicks he likes, I am walking out thinking "WHAT is up with this guy's thinking?"
Anyone remember when Will was funny?
NO I am not suggesting he go back to making only comedies, but jeezlaweez let's lighten up here Will.
My big objection to I, Robot was not its 'fun' or lack thereof (the collection of short stories on which it was based was not always 'fun' either) but rather the fact that it turned a collection of short stories about human nature, the meaning of life, and whether or not the creation of artificial intelligence casts humans in a divine role for which they are unqualified into an empty Hollywood action vehicle. 'Bicentennial Man' was much better and much more true to the spirit of Asimov's robot stories.
Seven Pounds was a snooze-fest. Formula plot from beginning to end with characters either good or bad-no grey personalities. I hate getting dragged to fluff pieces like this by women who just want to sit there and swoon over Will Smith. At least he wasn't phoning it in, like in Hancock. This a a chick-flick posing as a substance film.
"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations, the new needs friends".
Anton Ego from - "Ratatouille"
I LOVE WILL SMITH and I want all of his films to be successful......but.....I am of the opinion that killing ones self is not the answer to guilt. Even if it does help others. These are stressful times and I have personally experienced over the years the loss of two people who were close and one who tried and failed to end their life for whatever reasons. There are folks out there who are on the edge and to glorify this action is dangerous. ..... Just a thought. I STILL LOVE WILL SMITH THOUGH.
The worst part about this is that it's overtly antisemitic. Everyone but the JEWISH DOCTOR is wonderful, sweet and kind.
I'm an entertainment professional.
I generally like Will Smith's films even though the last three, "I Am Legend" "Hancock" and this one, "Seven Pounds" have seen him stray from his base, so to speak.
But this was GODAWFUL. I am the type of filmgoer who cries at everything. But this was so wack, only because the viewer's intelligence was insulted from the very start.
SPOILER ALERT: Don't read further if you don't want to know key plot points from the film.
Am I to believe that a man somehow steals his brother's identity, gets into an IRS database and chooses people based on goodness (somehow tying that in to unpaid taxes)only to decide he wants to donate his body parts because he was responsible for an accident where eight people died? Really???
I tried hard to buy into the plot, but it went from WTF to Really, Will? Really?
It did not give you enough backstory on anyone's character, but especially Ben's, to explain why he he responded in such an extreme way. And am I the only one who wanted to know how the Posa character had $56,000 in unpaid taxes, yet lived in a lovely house? And how is it that someone as pretty and as "good" as Posa, had virtually NO ONE rallying to her side when she was dying of heart failure?
Those were just a FEW of the issues I had with this movie. It was a pretentious mess.
Well said and spot on, but you didn't mention the main Creep-Out character (to me) in the film:
Woody Harrleson
I saw Seven Pounds on Saturday night and can say without question that Michael Russnow's judgment is questionable at best. The movie is slow, boring, and uneventful except that it fails to connect plot points in any way that would suggest the director knew what he was doing. Mr. Smith's acting, pouting, sadness only makes it worse. At least in Happyness, there is a happy ending. Here, the only happy ending is the fact that the movie finally ended.
the only good thing to come out of Mr. Russnow's review is the fact that we call all now take his reviews and avoid them.
It came in at Number Two on Entertainment Weekly's Worst Films of the Year list.
Am looking forward to Russnow's essay on how "The Hills" has been unfairly ignored at the Emmys.
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