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Confusing but worth it
12/24/08
Seven Pounds
Columbia
Rating: 14A
100 minutes
Seven Pounds starts with a call by Will Smith’s character to a suicide help line.
It seems he is about to commit suicide.
But you don’t know why; and it takes a long time before the movie tells you why in a flashback, although there are clues along the way.
There are seven people Smith’s character (an Internal Revenue agent) interacts with, including a blind man (Woody Harrelson) and a young woman with a bad heart (Rosario Dawson).
He also does strange things, like give away his house to an abused Latino woman (one of the seven people) with two kids, and keeps a dangerous box jellyfish in his dumpy motel room.
He is also falling in love with Dawson. She’s waiting for a heart transplant, but because of a rare blood type, is unlikely to get one, and will die soon.
This movie doesn’t work all the time, but there is resolution and payoff at the end if you don’t mind the manipulation and confusion as to what’s going on.
Will Smith is out for another Oscar nomination (and may get one depending on the competition) and there’s a very touching performance from Dawson.
As for the title: well, one reviewer joked that an Oscar weighs seven pounds.
However, there is a certain amount of frustration while you watch mystifying events unfold.
Meanwhile, a very Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to all.
Rating: four deer out of five
New on Video
You think they’d release better movies over the holidays but Ghost Town is something for Ricky Gervais fans and Eagle Eye is okay.
Alf Cryderman is a Red Deer freelance writer and old movie buff.
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