Will Smith's latest got only a few positive reviews, 29% according to Rotten Tomatoes. One was from USA Today, where Claudia Puig said, "Concerned with how people overcome trauma and tragedy, the film focuses on universal themes of loss, forgiveness and redemption. While it doesn't break any new ground or provide any revelations, Seven Pounds is unabashedly emotional and cautiously hopeful. It's the feel-good movie for these feel-bad times."
But it most critics placed it somewhere between "feel bad" and "feel furious" and the frustration of writing about what they did not like without giving away the ending had some of them just about foaming at the mouth. SPOILER ALERT -- DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING It is clear from the very beginning of the film that Smith's character will at least attempt to commit suicide and that he is preparing to make a great sacrifice to benefit seven people he considers deserving, including a character with a congenital heart defect played by Rosario Dawson. It turns out that he carelessly caused a traffic accident (don't text and drive, my friends) that killed seven people, including his wife. At the end of the film, after giving up a lung, a part of his liver, his bone marrow (with no anesthetic), and his beach house, Smith's character kills himself so that he can give up his heart and corneas. This is Puig's idea of a feel-good movie?
I would not go as far as the New York Times' A.O. Scott, who called it "among the most transcendently, eye-poppingly, call-your-friend-ranting-in-the-middle-of-the-night-just-to-go-over-it-one-more-time crazily awful motion pictures ever made." But I see his point. Scott Foundas of The Village Voice called it "a morbid morality play that rivals The Reader for the bottom spot in this season's celluloid martyrdom derby" and "dispiritingly obvious and phony from top to bottom." It is not the obviousness and phoniness and manipulation that bothers me as much as the clueless and even condescending immorality of it. No one thinks that suicide, even to benefit others, is a legitimately redemptive act and it is contemptible and irresponsible of the movie to suggest otherwise.
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Thanks, Romanceplaya. I am glad to hear that the movie has touched you this way and your comments are very helpful.
I don't understand why you have to critic every aspect of the movie. The point of film is to move the beholder. If you can't get lost in the film or feel like you're a part of the movie, you know it's a bit superficial and fake. But real films take the story and create a new vibe or feeling with it to give off to the audience. Just because this vibe may not have been the happiest, at least it puts you in a position of thought. And if our society doesn't enjoy thinking anymore, can a good film ever be labeled a good film? Or are the unrealistic fantasies what we have resorted to? Life is real. And Seven Pounds is an excellent example of a story that portrays something real. It's deep. The emotions and motivations behind the character are complex. But we've all experienced complicated relations. Everyone can understand. And that's what makes a true film. The raw connection of the story to the audience, and of course, how it affects them afterwards. Sure, it may not break through any major revelations, but it does expose us to the reality of selflessness, and how to give - maybe not as dramatically - so that the world is a better place.
Thanks, Emily. I am glad that the movie touched you and I agree entirely that its greatest contribution is in provoking thinking and debate. But my concern about the movie did not relate to some inconsequential or tangential detail. It went to what was literally the heart of the movie. As I said in my review, your feeling about the movie will depend on how you feel about the character's final choice. I applaud the movie's willingness to take on some tough issues, including redemption and expiation, but can never endorse its glorification of suicide, even as a metaphor.
The movie was powerful and frightening.Will Smith has truly learned his craft.
There are people who have conceived a life in order to benefit another, so why is it so hard to believe that someone could be so racked with remorse that they take their life. It has happened I agree that most do not have the wherewithal or ability to track and decide who will receive benefit of their death.
The movie is not about a universal decision or acceptance of suicide but an exploration of one mans decision to pay his "pound of flesh" for what he felt responsible for.
The movie did take on a tough issue suicide is a hot button subject many people find it selfish and contemptible but it can also be the means to dying with dignity that many would seek if they had an illness that they would not recover from or would be in a vegetative state.
The movie leads to discussion and self exploration as I said powerful performance.
Thank you, Sharon, for a very thoughtful and insightful comment.
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