Seven Pounds is where cinema is right now. First of all it cost seven pounds to see the movie in the multiplex and then it's an exercise in cynical box ticking to get each segment of the community through that door. Where as the tiresome and less than inspirational Pursuit of Happyness (also ... Read review
From Gabriele Muccino the Director of The Pursuit Of Happyness comes Seven Pounds. Will ... more
Smith stars as Ben an IRS agent who is depressed and guilt-ridden about mistakes from his past. He sets out to make amends by helping seven strangers. When he mee...
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Academy Award nominee Will Smith (2006, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, ... more
The Pursuit of Happyness) stars as Ben Thomas, a man at a crossroads searching for a way to redeem his heavy conscience. He discovers he has the power to change the circumstances of seven strangers who deserve a second chance. But when one of them captures his heart, he must decide if he should reveal his secret -- even if it means giving up on his plan. From the creators of The Pursuit of Happyness, SEVEN POUNDS is an emotionally charged, captivating mystery with a soulful, tender love story and a tearful but joyfully inspiring ending
Academy Award® nominee Will Smith (2006, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading ... more
Role, The Pursuit of Happyness) stars as Ben Thomas, a man at a crossroads searching for a way to redeem his heavy conscience. He discovers he has the power to change the circumstances of seven strangers who deserve a second chance. But when one of them captures his heart, he must decide if he should reveal his secret -- even if it means giving up on his plan. From the creators of The Pursuit of Happyness, SEVEN POUNDS is an emotionally charged, captivating mystery with a soulful, tender love story and a tearful but joyfully inspiring ending
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 1995 - Drama - Director: Ang Lee - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Greg Wise, Hugh Laurie, Robert Hardy
Production Year: 1981 - Drama - Director: Franco Zeffirelli - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt, Shirley Knight, Don Murray, Richard Kiley, Penelope Milford, Beatrice Straight
Advantages: Smiths a true movie star Disadvantages: Once you twig the twist its game over..
Seven Pounds is where cinema is right now. First of all it cost seven pounds to see the movie in the multiplex and then it's an exercise in cynical box ticking to get each segment of the community through that door. Where as the tiresome and less than inspirational Pursuit of Happyness (also directed by Gabriele Muccino) was geared more towards a black audience this is clearly trying to target the Latino base, building Wills profile there some, all ... ...apart from Hitch, of course! Seven Pounds, like all his other movies is very formulaic and strictly structured, a man who knows his audience, the twist and point fairly obvious early on in the mystery as it was in Hancock so not to alienate that demographic for not twigging it. Never make the paying customers feel dumb. Make them feel like they are working out the plot and make them feel clever for doing it. Gentle clues are offered at the right ... more
Seven Pounds is where cinema is right now. First of all it cost seven pounds to see the movie in the multiplex and then it's an exercise in cynical box ticking to get each segment of the community through that door. Where as the tiresome and less than inspirational Pursuit of Happyness (also directed by Gabriele Muccino) was geared more towards a black audience this is clearly trying to target the Latino base, building Wills profile there some, all the white characters feeble and the black ones peripheral, leaving Will to chew the place up, a skilful marketing movie machine that has quite rightfully put Smith on top of the world in Hollywood, Tom Cruise having to concede that spot after Valkyrie. There's no way back after the eye-patch Tom! Incidentally Toms little adopted son Conner appears in the movie as a smaller version of Smiths character Ben Thomas.
Smith is a great star though with tremendous cross cultural appeal and his movies extremely rentable as you know and he will deliver and not take on a duff project that doesn't exploit his best traits - apart from Hitch, of course! Seven Pounds, like all his other movies is very formulaic and strictly structured, a man who knows his audience, the twist and point fairly obvious early on in the mystery as it was in Hancock so not to alienate that demographic for not twigging it. Never make the paying customers feel dumb. Make them feel like they are working out the plot and make them feel clever for doing it. Gentle clues are offered at the right times to fill you in on where the film is going here just in case you don't realize what's going on, and which the title of Seven Pounds is a bit of a red herring to.
-The Cast-
Will Smith ... Ben Thomas Rosario Dawson ... Emily Posa Woody Harrelson ... Ezra Turner Michael Ealy ... Ben's Brother Barry Pepper ... Dan Elpidia Carrillo ... Connie Tepees Robinne Lee ... Sarah Jenson Joe Nunez ... Larry (Hotel Owner) Bill Smitrovich ... George Ristuccia Tim Kelleher ... Stewart Goodman
-The Plot-
Smith plays Ben Thomas, an anxious IRS officer (tax man), the first frames of the movie suggesting he's unstable and a bit of a manic depressive (I want spoil it as it's a great line and scene). Through flashback the movie moves forward to try and explain why he has reached this extreme low point in his life as he goes about his business auditing his case book, seven names on his list. The first is a blind telesales worker named Ezra (Woody Harleson), who Thomas cruelly abuses down the phone in his wound up state. Another is the owner of a care home, George Ristuccia (Bill Smitrovich), who owes the government a sizeable sum. But it's the third client on the list the movie sticks with, the beautiful Emily (Rosario Dawson), who has missed tax payments totalling $67,000 after having to re-mortgage her house to pay for her heart surgery and hopefully a future transplant, and so the taxman with a heart taking a shine to her.
It soon becomes clear Thomas is on a mission and is picking and choosing who gets extra time to pay those missed taxes and who doesn't. As he becomes closer to Emily it becomes obvious that he too has suffered a serious tragedy in his lifetime, the two bound together by fete, his sorrow buried in guilt and so trying to right a wrong. When his life long friend and now his attorney (Barry Pepper) is given strict tasks to do on his behalf it suggest he may not be around much longer in their lives. When he then moves out of his beautiful beach side house (a place that only holds good memories) and into a seedy motel (as seen in Memento) for two weeks, where not even his brother (Michael Ealy) can get to him, it seems his life is at wits end. But why all the mystery and what's with the number seven? And will his new found love change the course of the events he has meticulously set in motion...
-The Conclusion-
If you're wondering the title is loosely connected to the Merchant of Venice and the character Shylock, who takes his pound of flesh, and created the Jewish serotype for the next three hundred years. But that's where the great literature connection ends abruptly, Seven ponds just a basic Hollywood tearjerker at its most cynical, pulling together impossible statistical scenarios to construct a preposterous tale of love and redemption, but still good fun in that Will Smith way. It's hard not to enjoy his movies. If any of you guys saw that silly Return to Me with David Duchovny and Minnie Driver then your in that realm of impossibility. But as Hollywood is for just that then fair enough.
Once you grasp the twist and the reason for the film is revealed mid movie then I'm afraid the brakes are jammed on and it really drags, lingering with this Afro American-Latino love story trying to boost Wills profile with that chunk of America. Smith was executive producer on the movie and so the needed cuts were not made in that critical second half, nudging it over the two hour mark and so losing a dooyoo star for me.
With cliché blind piano players and a rather two dimensional narrative in the sense of the plot having little room for realism, the movie drifts and becomes a Will Smith film very quickly, if you know what I mean. It's all about his screen time (with array of sad faces and grimaces) and not about the flow of the thing. We know what's going to happen so why are we messing about? It was the same deal in the Pursuit of Happyness and so clearly director Gabriele Muccino now knows how and where to improve his next film. It's not the greatest Will Smith movie and its not the worse. But it's definitely a Will Smith movie.
= = = = The Special features = = = =
-Audio Commentary-
Gabriele Muccino talks about his movie in his very Hispanic way
-Seven Voices of Seven People-
The seven people Will meets in the movie (hence the tile, although doesn't explain the pounds bit) gush about their roles in it in what can only be described as the first segment of some very over-indulgent extras.
-Creating the perfect ensemble-
The people who put the movie together talk about casting the film, when in reality at least 30 people from Will's previous collaboration with Muccino in the Pursuit of Happyness are in this movie.
-The deadliest Jellyfish in the world-
In the movie a deadly Box jellyfish has a starring part and here we learn about the world's most venomous sea creature, as beautiful as it is poisonous. Little Conner Cruise is the kid who looks in the tank at the said jellyfish when we flashback to Smiths characters youth.
-Emily's Passion: the printing press-
For some reason an irrelevant part of the movie is in the extras
-Deleted Scenes-
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Imdb.com scores it 7.6 out of 10.0 (41,456 votes) RuN-TiMe 123 minutes Best deal is the 2 films for 2 nights for £5 at Blockbuster = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Advantages: A powerful, moving movie by the end, solid acting from main cast, Disadvantages: Its quite confusing at the start, maybe a bit too sappy for some
Can I just start off by saying that its not very often that I get very, if at all, emotional when watching a movie, let alone in public when at the cinema and when sitting next to my parents(!) but I did when I saw this movie. It may not be for everyone but I really felt quite moved by it, I think I felt somehow as if I could relate in some ways to the main character symbolically, anyway I just wanted to start out by saying this and I'll obviously ... ...just came back from the cinema having seen this and I wanted to get started with my review so it could be available as soon as possible, while the film was as vivid in my memory as possible, so here I go...
- Cast & Crew -
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814314/fullcredits
- Plot -
Ben Thomas is an IRS agent who decides that he can't live with the knowledge that his wife is dead and he feels that he has to do right, to seek out and help a number ...
IzzyS 18.01.2009 (19.01.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Seven Pounds (DVD)
Advantages: Original plot Disadvantages: At times it feels more like 7 hours
...I have never heard of, Seven Pounds follows the story of Ben Thomas (Will Smith) as he looks to find some people who could have their life drastically improved by him. Devastated by the death of his wife in a car accident, he begins his quest.
The film begins as Ben Thomas rings 911 and is clearly very anxious about something. From there the film cuts to Thomas at his beach house where he tries to pick a fight with a blind customer services representative ... ...answers many questions. Seven Pounds spends most of the film confusing the viewer and giving you little snippets of what the whole thing is about. What you find is that three quarters of the way through the film you still have a great sense of wonder about what the film is actually about and as such means that it is quite a hard watch for the a good chunk of the film. Smith plays a very different character in this film compared to other roles. In ...
mynameisrui 15.01.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Seven Pounds (DVD)
Advantages: emotional, moving, excellent story, wonderfully acted Disadvantages: Too emotional at times
...Gabriele Muccino
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes: Seven Views on Seven Pounds, Creating the perfect Ensemble, The Box Jellyfish: World’s Deadliest Co Star, Emily’s Passion: The Art of the Printing Press.
I am not a fan of bonus features so I have not watched these so I am not able to give comment on them. The running time of this film is 1 hour and 58 minutes and the certificate is a12. I personally think that due to some of the scenes which are quite ... ...the age of 14/15 watch this. As I said at the beginning I managed to get this DVD for just £5 from Asda, it is also available for this price in Tesco. Overall I am definitely going to recommend this film as it has a powerful and moving story which is put across in such a wonderful way by great actors. ...
sewbizzie 04.10.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Seven Pounds (DVD)
Advantages: Memorable acting by Rosario and Woody Disadvantages: Poor acting by Smith, tepid script, poorly put constructed scenes
I don't know what I honestly was expecting from this film as the trailers didn't seem to tell me much about the plot itself but I was expecting a lot more than this pile of guano poo. Okay, I might be overreacting here but I didn't really see any redeeming features or qualities that stood out from any other films. It was meant to be a heart-warming film with a sudden twist at the end but instead I got a pretty unrealistic story with a big time actor ... ...opinion, it also tried way too hard to be sentimental with mish-mash of scenes that was not even necessary. I was satisfied with the Pursuit of Happyness which is Gabriele Muccino's previous effort I've seen so I was expecting a film of the same calibre with many poignant and sentimental scenes that would tug at my heart strings but was sorely lacking in this film. I was rather impressed with Will Smith's accumulating pile of great movies; Pursuit ...
Annallon 18.08.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Seven Pounds (DVD)
...read some mixed reviews about Seven Pounds, but being a big fan of Will Smith, I thought that I would get the DVD anyway and form my own opinion. I am very glad that I did because both me and my husband thoroughly enjoyed the film although it was not obvious that we were going to at first. It's a bit difficult at first to work out what is going on. The time sequence jumps about a lot with lots of flashbacks so it's a bit tricky to work out what is ... ...including the very interesting ' Seven Views on Seven Pounds'. I enjoyed this as it included seven different people involved with making the film presenting their different perspectives. These included the writer, director, producer and composer and I foun d this quite watchable. There are some other features including deleted scenes which did not really amount to much. Also there were some trailers for some other films which I found myself watching ...
kingfisher111 29.09.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Seven Pounds (DVD)
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Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps proably won't like this, and its aimed more at the same massive cult following as Garth Marenghi, Dean Lerner, The Mighty Boosh, The IT Crowd and Black Books.
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Throughout his career, the multi-talented Will Smith has proven equally adept with action, drama, and comedy. After tackling the big budget films I AM LEGEND and HANCOCK, the actor returns to more serious fare with his THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS director, Gabriele Muccino. In SEVEN POUNDS, a man's efforts drastically reshape the worlds of seven people.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT; CINRAM LOGISTICS, SONY PICTURES
Seductively lithe and sheeny (Time Out London, 15/04/2009)
Unabashedly emotional (USA Today, 15/04/2009)
DVD Description
Gabriele Muccino (THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS) directs this tale of a man devastated by a tragedy in his past who is seeking redemption. To the outside world, Ben Thomas (Will Smith) is a cordial, atypically helpful agent for the Internal Revenue Service. But when he's alone, Ben is tormented by a tragic incident in his past, sinking into grief. He's even cut off communication with his beloved brother (Michael Ealy). Nevertheless, Ben is especially interested in strangers with challenging circumstances. He's taken particular interest in Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson), a lovely young woman with congenital heart disease who is being audited by the IRS. Ben finds himself falling for Emily, and has to choose the best way to follow his heart.
Smith wears Ben's heart on his sleeve, the pain of his past loss and his impending future apparent in his face both when he is alone and when he begins to feel happiness--which he doesn't think he deserved--with Emily. He also nails Ben's pleasant work persona, masking his pain as he charms strangers and earns their trust. Dawson is beguiling as Emily, whose only wish is to have more time to experience life, especially once she finds love with Ben. With flashbacks mixed into the story, SEVEN POUNDS takes a circuitous route, saving some surprises for its end. Woody Harrelson appears as a blind man, and Barry Pepper plays Ben's best friend and confidante, Dan.
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