Seven Pounds follows a remorseful Ben Thomas (Will Smith) who is aching to sacrifice himself to donate certain life-altering gifts to good, kind-hearted people like Rosario Dawson. But why is he doing this and what kind of gifts is he giving away? All that will be explained in the final five minutes of the film, but I'm sure you'll realize what's going on in the first five minutes. While the movie advertises itself as a mystery, it was obvious from the beginning what his backstory and motivations were. And every pseudo-revelation from that point on just insults your intelligence that much more. While the movie prides itself on its emotional impact (remember all that running in the rain and yelling on phones from the trailer?), the situations, conversations, and interactions were all so contrived and forced that any emotions the actors infused into their characters felt flat and fake. It wasn't real; it was overwrought melodrama.The best part about the movie was the music, something everyone agreed on. The rest, to put it plainly, sucked. It was all so weird and uncomfortable, as if everything was a manipulation instead of something genuine or honest. I found myself unable to trust the movie and any message it was trying to get across. It's a shame, because I really wanted to like Seven Pounds. I wanted it to be at least as good as The Pursuit of Happyness, if not better. But it was far worse. And the title takes a Shakespearean reference and bastardizes it beyond recognition by the writer's obvious fetish for the number seven. How awful.
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814314/