Seven Pounds

I'm not so cynical that I can't be taken in by a good sentimental story of selflessness and redemption. This is not one of those stories. Will Smith plays Ben Thomas, an IRS agent who's apparently on a mission to help people by "really" giving of himself. He spends a good part of the movie searching for and getting to know some of the people who will benefit from his largess, most particularly Emily Posa, the character played by Rosario Dawson. Woody Harrelson also has an extended cameo as an extremely patient, almost saintly, vegetarian blind man who happens to work the phones for a mail order meat company. There are flashbacks throughout the story which portray Will Smith's character in a previous life, where he was obviously quite successful and happy. It's obvious that he's atoning for, as well as punishing himself for some horrible thing that he did, although you don't know exactly what and how until near the end. Whatever he did he felt that it was bad enough for him to donate bone marrow to a young cancer patient without benefit of anesthesia. What doctor would actually go along with this? The characters and situations bare little resemblance to real life, and since this isn't Ironman, it's somewhat of a problem. At a certain point in the film I realized that this is one of those of stories that you stick with because you figure the ending will be worth it. Not really.

Rating -2 Stars