Seven Pounds, Movie Review Example

In this review for Village Voice, Scott Foundas provides the readers with vivid facts about Will Smith and his recent movies – Seven Pounds and The Pursuit of Happiness. The review is written in pretty clear and opened style, explaining Will Smith’s maturity as a TV star. Writer uses relatively simple language, thus making it easy to read and understand, which is essential for the reader. The author makes more emphasis on Will Smith’s main role in the Seven Pounds movie, than on the general plot of the film. At the very beginning Scott Foundas gives us an idea that he actually likes Will Smith as an actor, who is capable of addressing social and economic realities of America’s underclass population. The author gives a very brief summary of the movie, starting with Ben Thomas lying in a bathtub full of ice trying to commit suicide. “For the most of the next two hours, Seven Pounds maintains that anguished, overwrought tenor.”(Foundas, 2008) Consequently, he focuses on the flashbacks of Ben’s previous life that actually made the entire movie. He even makes a suggestion that Seven Pounds could be called The Pursuit for Misery, thus comparing it to the Pursuit for Happiness. Scot is sure that if the audience knew about Ben’s ‘gifts’ to all these people from the very start of the movie, it would have become even more preposterous. In other words, the author claims that the movie is not really easy to follow and understand. Even though Scott Foundas likes the way Smith acts and uses emotional appeal, he agrees that in this movie he was less convincing. I liked this review, because the author did not actually reveal the entire movie plot, thus making it still interesting for me to watch the film even after reading this review. Moreover, the author described Will Smith as a great actor, even though he was not “convincing” enough in this particular movie. Therefore, I wanted to watch his acting myself.

Anthony Scott has made a pretty good review of the Seven Pounds movie for general audience. This review is targeted not only on professional audience, but also on regular people, because of the vivid and relatively simple language used in it. Moreover, the author has built it in a narrative way, thus predominantly retelling the plot of the movie. The whole review is focused on the movie plot only, thus the author explains the main role of Will Smith as an I.R.S. agent. Scott also highlights the efficient use of music elements in the movie, like emotive pop songs, which create a shudder of suspense when combined with Philippe Le Sourd’s cinematography. He compares the role of Ben Thomas in the movie to the character of Jesus Christ, making a set of related keywords from the film. Anthony Scott also finds joke in the story, as to the fact that Ben Thomas is an I.R.S. agent who actually desires to help people. The review appears to be written with some sense of humor, thus making it sound really opened, especially the wrap up part with a ‘jellyfish’ – “But please, whatever you do, do not touch the jellyfish.”(Scott, 2008) The author focuses on the story as a spiritual parable about redemption, forgiveness, and salvation, actually judging the character of Ben Thomas. This review convinced me of watching the movie by revealing some interesting points of the plot, like the set of keywords the author had chosen or I.R.S. agent willing only to help people. And I definitely would love to know what it was the “jellyfish” all about after reading the review.

The Seven Pounds review of Elizabeth Weitzman is relatively short and concise, thus predominantly focused on the story behind the movie. Simple language and clear statements make it easy to read and comprehend. The author simply tries to help the reader figure out whether this movie is the one he/she wants to watch. “Wondering if Seven Pounds is a movie for you?”(Weitzman, 2008) Elizabeth focuses on the main character Ben Thomas struggling to make up his misstep he made years ago. The author emphasizes the fact of the director Gabriel Muccino using flashbacks and portentous hints to slowly unfold Ben’s secret. However, Elizabeth claims that Muccino did not accomplish the goal of turning the hero into someone we understand. This review calls the reader to watch the movie from the very first paragraph. The author suggests to answer couple questions do determine whether the movie is suitable. Moreover, in the end, she suggests to use imagination when watching it. Thus, I could not have missed the movie after actually reading this review.

Eventually, I took a while and watched Seven Pounds on my own. I am not going to discuss the movie plot, because it has already been revealed in this paper. Thus I want to share some of my thoughts and feelings about the film. All the heart of the film is the relationship between Ben and Emily providing the dramatic tension throughout the movie. Most characters in the movie are briefly seen, but easily registered, thus making it easy to follow. I think the theme behind the movie is the redemption issue, like paying back to the world to the same extent you have taken from it. Ben Thomas considered himself guilty of an accident, which had taken seven lives. Therefore, he decided to make it up by saving seven lives in return. The main character is haunted by this burden throughout the movie, which drives him to make amends. The movie was brilliantly set with sharply focused scenes, preserving the sense of mystery till the very end of it. Even though it might seem confusing all the way through, everything becomes clear at the end. That is the main thing that makes it interesting and thrilling. I think all the actors did a great job playing their roles naturally, emotionally, and effectively.

References

Foundas, S. (2008). Will Smith encores Pursuit of Happiness with Seven Pounds. Village Voice. Retrieved March 26, 2009, from http://www.villagevoice.com/content/printVersion/784194/

Scott, A. O. (2008). An I.R.S. do-gooder and ether strangeness. New York Times. Retrieved March 26, 2009, from http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/movies/19seve.html?pagewanted=print/

Weitzman, E. (2008). Seven Pounds. Daily News. Retrieved March 26, 2009, from http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2008/12/18/2008-12-18_will_smiths_haloed_hero_doesnt_ring_true.html/