Blu-Ray Review: ‘Seven Pounds’ With Will Smith is Manipulative Melodrama

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Blu-Ray Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – There’s arguably no bigger star on Earth than Will Smith but even the greats need a misfire to bring them crashing to the ground. “Seven Pounds” is a mess, a film of conflicting tones and arguably offensive themes, a movie that moves beyond traditional melodrama in just the first few minutes and keeps flying into the over-the-top stratosphere. The Sony Blu-Ray release is impressive, but the movie itself is not.

If you focus solely on the excellent work by Rosario Dawson and are impressed by gorgeous HD picture quality, there may be enough weight in “Seven Pounds” to warrant a rental, but most people will be shocked by this somber melodrama that somehow also tries to be a crowd-pleaser.

Seven Pounds was released on Blu-Ray on March 31st, 2009.
Photo credit: Sony

Ben Thomas (Smith) opens the film by calling 911 and announcing that he needs an ambulance for his own suicide. The film than flashes back and we watch Ben enter the lives of several people in unusual ways.

Seven Pounds was released on Blu-Ray on March 31st, 2009. Photo credit: Sony

First, he contacts a telephone operator named Ezra Turner (Woody Harrelson) and viciously berates him. Ben transitions his way into the life of Emily Posa (Dawson), a beautiful young lady dying of a chronic heart problem. Thomas pretends to be an IRS field agent, who happens to have an exorbitant amount of time for one client. He also helps an abused woman escape her nightmare and donates bone marrow to a sick child, but the love story between Ben and Emily takes center stage.

“Seven Pounds” is almost a cavalcade of depressing themes - the life of a blind person, elderly abuse, spousal abuse, people in need of heart transplants, tragic loss after an accident, and even thoughts of suicide. By using all of these devices to pull your heartstrings, none of them feel remotely genuine. It’s all part of the “mystery” at the core of “Seven Pounds” - why is Ben working his way into these people’s lives and why will he eventually commit suicide?

Honestly, I think audiences should be offended by the way Muccino and Smith whitewash such serious themes. Apparently, all abused women need to get out of their situation is to have Smith tell them “Don’t be weak.” It’s all so shockingly two-dimensional and I think it’s irresponsible to use such serious themes like death and abuse in such a crowd-pleasing, manipulative manner.

The melodrama of “Seven Pounds” wouldn’t be quite as awful if it wasn’t so flat. There’s no rising action. If you’ve seen it, think about if it would be interesting at all if there was no mystery as to what Ben’s doing to get you through it. If you need a twist ending device to make your drama interesting, you have a problem as a screenwriter.

Seven Pounds was released on Blu-Ray on March 31st, 2009. Photo credit: Sony

The one good thing about the movie itself is the easy-going chemistry between Dawson and Smith, although even that feels a little bit dirty. I wonder if Ben would have gone through with his plan if Emily didn’t look like one of the most beautiful actresses on the planet.

As for the Blu-Ray, it’s nearly unimpeachable. The video in 1080P is gorgeous, the audio is strong, and the special features are informative. They could have been better organized and it would have been nice to see a little more cast involvement than crew in the behind-the-scenes featurettes, but they’re minor complaints for what is a very good collection of special features.

The special features on “Seven Pounds” start with “Seven View on Seven Pounds” - seven mini-featurettes examining the film from the angle of the writer, producers, director, location manager, designer, editor, and composer. The featurettes total about half an hour of running time.

Other special features include the 13-minute “Creating the Perfect Ensemble,” 5-minute “The Box Jellyfish: World’s Deadliest Co-Star,” 9-minute “Emily’s Passion: The Art of the Printing Press,” four minutes of deleted scenes and the film’s trailers.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com