MOVIE
REVIEW: SEVEN POUNDS

12/17/08

SYNOPSIS: Academy Award® nominee Will Smith reunites
with the directors and producers of The Pursuit of Happyness
for the emotional drama Seven Pounds. In the film, Smith
plays Ben Thomas, an IRS agent with a fateful secret who
embarks on an extraordinary journey of redemption by forever
changing the lives of seven strangers.
REVIEW:
Judging from the trailer, you would think that Seven Pounds
is a pounding and surprising mystery film. At least that was
my first reaction to the trailer. When I heard that the film
was getting a heavy Oscar Buzz, I immediately figured that
drama has to be the main focus point of the film. Changing
completely the expectations that I had for the movie. By the
end of the film I was correct, Seven Pounds is that mystery
film that slowly evolves into a heavy drama by trying to get
across the story of a tragic redemption.
The beginning of the film is a just a big mystery. We see
Ben Thomas (Will Smith) talking and meting strangers, with
the idea of helping them, but we don't know what his motive
is. Is he dead? , Did he win the lottery and want to share
some of his fortune? Are the people that he is meeting good
people? These were some of the speculations that blew
through my mind in the first 20 minutes of the film.
However, between the flashbacks of Ben's Thomas life and the
conversation with his brother in law. The meaning of the
Seven Pounds became evident and the film changed from a
mystery to a deep drama. I must admit that once the mystery
was out of the equation, the film became just another drama.
It is the dramatic performance by Will Smith and Rosario
Dawson that kept the movie interesting to the end.
Seven pounds has the drama and caliber performance to obtain
an Oscar nomination in any category, however judging from
the quality of films released in this year's Oscar's season
the road to that nomination will be very difficult.
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