Seven Pounds

I didn't really intend to watch Seven Pounds. I was trying to decide on a film to watch with my girlfriend one night and she saw this film with Will Smith in and decided that was what we were going to watch. I started off a bit sceptical about the film, but by the end of it I was so glad I had watched it. It is a incredibly emotional film about the lengths that some people will go to just to make up for what they've done.

It’s about this guy, Ben, who works for an insurance firm, and throughout the film he goes and visits clients, checking on the state of their health and lives, just to make sure that they are not swindling the company. He seems to be fairly close with several of these clients, and develops a very close bond with a young heart patient called Emily. The two begin to see more and more of each other and one night she invites him over to dinner. This is where the whole scale of the story is revealed, when Ben’s brother turns up and reveals the truth about him. We then see the full scope of Ben’s plan in a finale that left me emotionally drained and slightly inspired. It’s difficult to know how to classify it, because it is not a feel-good film (quite the opposite in fact), but it is a film that I am so glad that I watched, just for the sense of emotion afterwards.

Will Smith is fantastic as Ben, whose life history is slowly revealed throughout the film. Smith is a wonderful actor, and I love watching his films. In this one his supreme acting skills are once again displayed. The emotion that he puts into his relationship with Emily, and the complexities of his character are portrayed absolutely perfectly. The best thing about this film is that you don’t see the twist coming until it is in your headlights, and this is largely due to Smith’s character. The highlight of the film is how changeable Ben is. In one of the earliest scenes we witness him talking on the phone to a blind man, and he gives him such a hard time. I was sitting and watching this feeling genuinely uncomfortable and upset for the man on the other end of the phone, Ezra Turner (Woody Harrelson). Will Smith’s ability to make you feel this way is incredible, and I experienced it again towards the end of the film when him and Emily grow closer. However, unlike certain other Will Smith films, the film isn't completely defined by his acting ability, and this is why it is so enjoyable.

The other members of the cast combined wonderfully to create a film that feels complete. Woody Harrelson plays Ezra (the blind man) and is incredibly convincing in this role. When he is walking around, he doesn't look like a man acting blind, he looks like a genuinely blind man. Aside from Ben, I enjoyed Ezra’s character the most. After the first scene I felt genuinely sorry for him, and Woody Harrelson is to take as much credit for this emotion as Will Smith is. Rosario Dawson also appears as Emily, the heart patient that Ben falls in love with. I haven’t seen any other films that she has been in, so I don’t really know what she is like as an actress, but in Seven Pounds I thought she was excellent. Her engagement with her character is brilliant, and once again, it makes you feel.

However, despite the impressive skills of the cast, I feel that the most credit should go to both the director and the writer. Grant Nieporte does an excellent job in producing such an engaging script, and Gabriele Muccino directs this film absolutely brilliantly, and most of the reason why it is so good is because it all fits together in the end. The lingering message is the ultimate act of love and devotion, which was born out of an attempt to be a better person. I found this an incredibly powerful sentiment to take away from a film that I hadn't heard much about (aside from a largely negative review from my brother).

It was one of those films that you really don’t expect much from, but which really comes through and delivers. I was thinking about it for a good couple of days after I watched it, which can only pay testament to just how powerful it is. It’s the kind of film that doesn't get as much appreciation as it deserves in my eyes. It received very negative reviews after its release with many attacking it just for pulling at the heartstrings and being too intricate. I don’t mind this though. I feel that if I had been excited to see it and had much more expectation about it then it probably wouldn't have been so enjoyable, but because I wasn't expecting much I was very pleasantly surprised.