When the movie Seven Pounds was released to theaters in December 2008, I was intrigued by the premise and Will Smith (who in my opinion has come a long way as an actor since his Fresh Prince of Bel-Air days). But it never really hit me as a Christmas movie. Neither did Marley & Me which was released about the same time or The Alamo which came out around Christmas in 2004... so we never got to the theater to see it. (We did see Marley & Me, but that was more because my wife's a veterinarian than anything else.)
So when I heard Seven Pounds was being released on DVD, I knew I needed to see it. It looked like a powerful story and didn't disappoint.
The story revolves around Ben Thomas (Will Smith), an IRS agent who seems to be behaving oddly. The stereotypical IRS agent is someone who relies on facts and figures, not feelings and heart. Ben did his homework, but relied on how he felt about particular people to render judgments. Through the course of the film, we see Ben find seven different people who deserve to have their lives changed. But he didn't plan on falling in love with one of the seven. Would that derail his plans? Would he change his mind?
Acting alongside Smith in the movie are several other great actors. But the trio of Smith's Ben, Rosario Dawson's Emily, and Woody Harrelson's Ezra really hold the center of the movie together.
Is this a love story? Yes, but not quite in the way you might think. Is it a drama? Definitely. Is it a thriller? Yes and no. There are aspects of other thrillers, such as waiting for the big reveal until the last third of the movie. But you get the sense from the very beginning that there's something inherently sad or broken about Ben and that he's trying to do something about that.
I've seen negative reviews about Seven Pounds on other parts of the web. Rotten Tomatoes only gave it 28%. ScreenRant gave it 3 out of 5. And Entertainment Weekly gave it a D calling it an "unintentionally ludicrous drama of repentance."
I watched it with my wife and we both loved the story — a powerful, romantic movie about redeeming one's self in the face of unimaginable sorrow. Like all movies, you take from them what you will.
In addition to the movie itself, the DVD includes numerous extras.
"Seven Views on Seven Pounds" provides seven different perspectives on the movie, from the director and the writer, to the producers involved, designers, editors, and so on. Each person brings something different to the table. What was most telling for me was listening to how the writer, Grant Nieporte, came up with the idea after seeing someone at a party with the same deep sorrow that Ben experienced. This just proves once again that life presents opportunities for art if you keep your eye open.
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