Movie- Seven Pounds

Will Smith can surprise you, you think a movie won't be that good, and somehow he can make it be good. Not quite like Robert Downey Jr., but he has a talent for finding projects that suit him and make him and it, better.

And so I think Seven Pounds (2007)is better than the material really is. It is about an IRS agent who starts helping a few people, giving them some breaks on their taxes and helping them do better in their lives. He especially is interested in helping the almost dying Rosario Dawson (really, what guy would not be?). But his character has issues, you can tell something is motivating him to do this, but that is a slow reveal.

Smith is engaging, as always, and Dawson is too, as always. But despite that, the film feels mawkish, as it tries too hard to evoke feeling in the audience. It seems to force us to feel sooooo sad for the dying Dawson, and even the surprise ending seems too forced. And the reasons for Smith's actions, while tragic, don't seem to be enough to force this kind of reaction in his character.

I can't say that I disliked Seven Pounds...the actors are too personable and too good looking to really dislike it. But, I don't think it was genuine and heartfelt either. It felt too much like a studio idea, rather than a creative idea. Sometimes that works, sometimes no. But they were very lucky to have Smith and Dawson attached to this, otherwise it could have been a real bomb.