Seven Pounds

Ben Thomas (Will Smith) holds himself accountable for an accident that killed seven people, including his fiancée, so he sets out to help seven strangers with the ultimate hope of redeeming himself from the guilt he feels. The film centres on Thomas’s relationship with heart patient Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson) as they fall in love with each other.

Seven Pounds is slightly confusing at times. All through the film the audience is left counting the people that Thomas has helped, and wondering who the next one is going to be. This is slightly frustrating as the film focuses on the relationship between Posa and Thomas. It is only at the end of the film the audience finds out what happened to start Thomas down the road of self sacrifice and redemption, and the seven people who he helped.

Will Smith has shown many times that he is not a one trick pony, but it is refreshing to see him to play a role in a film which, had it had a smaller marketing campaign and less corporate sponsorship, could have been considered to be indie. The character of Ben Thomas is as mysterious to the audience as he is to those around him, but he is almost instantly endearing, even as he abuses office worker Ezra (Woody Harrelson) on the phone. This said however, the film does not really start to move until Thomas meets Posa and they strike up a friendship, first on the phone, then in person.

Rosario Dawson as Emily is on form, this is possibly the most understated character that she has ever played. However, Emily is the character that draws Thomas out of himself most, and she succeeds in breaking his guard down enough to allow the audience to glimpse Thomas’s vulnerable side, the side that they ultimately identify with.

Thomas’s final plan is revealed and realised suddenly, just as the audience begins to believe that the opening scene’s flash forward is not going to happen, that Thomas has changed his mind. The nature of Thomas’s self redemption from his inner pain and suffering is not an easy one, but a decision that he sticks to once he has made it.

At times Thomas’s decisions seem far removed from the actions of a man tortured with guilt and therefore, can be difficult to understand, but through his relationship with Emily, and director Gabriele Muccino’s use of flashback it becomes clear why he ultimately makes the decisions he does.