Review: Seven Pounds (2008)

[Michael Dequina]

_Seven_Pounds_ (PG-13) *** (out of ****)

         Will Smith's reunion with his 
_The_Pursuit_of_Happyness_ director Gabriele 
Muccino, _Seven_Pounds_, is a remarkably 
demanding film--but not so much for the reasons 
one would expect.  The fractured narrative 
structure is nothing compared to what it simply, 
sincerely asks of its audience: to completely 
surrender to unabashed, heartfelt emotion.  It's 
a bold demand to run so defiantly counter to 
audiences' cynical reflexes, but the filmmakers 
and especially the actors so gracefully go about 
the task that giving in to the sentimental spell 
should be done so without shame or guilt.

         Helping defuse the threat of an overly 
saccharine journey is the nonlinear storytelling 
strategy adopted by writer Grant Nieporte.  Much 
like the willfully abstract marketing campaign, 
the film unfolds like a puzzle as it follows the 
unusual mission of tax collector Ben Thomas 
(Smith), who insinuates himself into the lives of 
a cross-section strangers.  The mystery of his 
motivation may be the primary selling point, but 
the true concern of the film emerges once Ben 
settles his focus on Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson), 
a young woman suffering from a heart 
ailment.  Smith and Dawson (paired to much 
greater effect here than in _Men_in_Black_II_) 
share an effortless, beguiling rapport, and as 
Ben and Emily's relationship gradually evolves 
from tentative friendship to something that may 
approach love, so does the heretofore enigmatic 
film patiently develop a most straightforward, 
relatable, and touching emotional core.

         As such, that it is quite possible to 
solve the central mysteries some time before the 
final revelations proves to rather beside the 
point.  (Actually, that it can be deduced is a 
testament to how fair the script plays; a second 
view reveals all the pieces to be plainly laid 
out, with no false moves or tricks solely in the 
name of shock.)  The film reveals itself to be 
not so much about the question of what exactly 
drives Ben (or, for that matter, whatever 
surprise value it may or may not hold for the 
viewer) than its potential effects, in particular 
those on the burgeoning feelings between him and 
Emily.  Nieporte and Muccino's shuffling of the 
timeline to obscure the truth may be a 
manipulative device, but it is an effective one; 
regardless of if one has it all figured out, the 
secrecy and uncertainty sustains an ominous 
spectre over the developing romance, very much 
parallel to how one of the film's repeated music 
cues is beautifully melodic until it hits an 
off-pitch note that serves as a harsh, disorienting reminder of reality.

         And the proceedings, however innately 
melodramatic they may be, indeed bear the ring of 
reality because of the lead pair.  Smith 
initially, deceptively seems awkward and ill at 
ease as Ben runs the gamut of temperaments with 
no apparent mooring, but the whole of his 
accomplishment becomes especially clear in 
retrospect; his nuanced depiction of Ben's 
conflicted, often contradictory actions and 
feelings again prove the range behind the 
megastar aura.  But one cannot help but 
undervalue his work when opposite Dawson's 
revelatory performance.  The film is unthinkable 
without her radiant, subtly poignant Emily: 
vulnerable yet not weak; brave yet not immune to 
fear; both confounded and exhilarated by the 
possibilities presented by sudden, 
ever-increasing, ever-inexplicable attention, her 
work not only reinforces but embodies what the 
film has to say about what is ultimately its real 
central mystery: that of direction, connection, love, and life.

         That _Seven_Pounds_ dares to go there 
makes it easy to dismiss as schmaltz, and that 
the sentiment is conveyed with such committed 
sincerity makes it feel almost foreign--and, 
indeed, the film's gentle touch makes it more 
akin to a work from Europe or Asia than 
contemporary, irony-programmed Hollywood.  For 
many, giving in may be just too much to ask, but 
those willing to let the film, its characters, 
and messages wash over them will find something 
at once heartbreaking, inspiring, and altogether beautiful.

(c)2008 Michael Dequina



Michael Dequina
mrbrown at iname.com
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