Running time: 123 minutes
Starring: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, Barry Pepper, Michael Ealy
Rating 1 out of 10
It's entirely possible that someone out there might like Seven Pounds: Will Smith's mother for example, or someone who has never actually seen a film before. But for the rest of us it's a squirming embarrassment, as deeply unpleasant an experience as Hollywood has produced in many years. It's an overdose of saccharine wrapped up and presented as a mystery, the solution to which is blindingly obvious to anyone after the first twenty minutes. It's clearly meant to be a return to 'proper' acting for Smith, usually so reliable as a charming superstar in summer blockbusters. But after the hideous misfire that was Hancock and now this, his career is showing the first signs of derailment.
Smith wanders through this coma-inducing fare as Ben Thomas, a benevolent everyman who seems intent on donating parts of his body to deserving hospital patients. The mystery is supposed to be why he is doing this, but the real question here is how did anyone involved in the production think this project had legs.
One of the cases Ben thinks about donating to is Emily (Rosario Dawson), who needs a new kidney (or is it liver? The endless body part donations have blended into one in my mind. He even considers giving a blind Woody Harrelson his eyes). Ben and Emily embark on a cagey romance which takes up much of the film's second hour and seems as though it will never end.
It's supposed to be life-affirming - probably - but life is far too short to spend any time or money on this film. Director Gabriele Mucchino made a splash with his film L'Ultimo Baccio which was remade into a sharp little Hollywood romance called The Last Kiss. He then made the sugary The Pursuit of Happyness with Smith and this time around has upped the sentimentality to unbearable levels.
Paul Hurley
