Seven Pounds (2008)

2/5

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/

The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

4/5

The Pursuit of Happyness follows the real-life story of Chris Gardner, a father who loves his son above all else and will do anything to stay with him. And wow, Will Smith gives a tour-de-force performance. His acting gives so much depth and complexity to his character because he's not a perfect guy who just got caught in a bad situation; sometimes he makes mistakes, he gets angry, he loses control. All of this makes the character real and sympathetic (unlike Russell Crowe in Cinderella Man). There are three scenes of extraordinary power in this film, two by Will Smith and one by Thandie Newton, and they are worth the price of admission alone.

The cinematography is nothing to write home about except for one shot, the first time Will Smith walks into the brokerage firm. The editing and directing were also relatively mediocre at best. The music was a bit over the top for me, but effective nonetheless. While never comedic, most of the movie had a sort of tongue-in-cheek feel, the kind of humor Will Smith specializes in. While it was really enjoyable to watch, it sort of took away from the painful situation of homelessness by making it seem not so bad. Also, the voice-over narration was absolutely terrible. They should've completely stripped the entire movie of narration. Or at the very least taken out the "This part of my life is called..."

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0454921/