Seven Pounds

There's this concept in film that's known as the Magical Negro. It's not liked much. This kind of explains it.

Technically, Seven Pounds is a magical negro film. I'm not saying it's not, but (go with me on this), I actually don't care.

A Partially Educated Review

The film that will be my first Full Education, but isn't yet.

In 50 Words or Less: By far, the most under-appreciated film of Will Smith's career (so far). A film that manages to be both heartbreaking and uplifting in tandem. It may veer dangerously close to committing some nasty Hollywood sins, but pulls it back with great performances and a truly affecting narrative.

I am happy to accept all of the following:

1. That good intentions should not always be a "get out of jail" free card if the end product panders to insulting tropes or damaging stereotypes.
2. That Hollywood is, in any way, equal when it comes to gender or, in this case, racial equality, particularly in the quality of roles that are out there.
3. That vanity projects usually need to be eradicated from cinema.

I'm also not going to shy away from the fact that all three of those criticisms have been thrown in the direction of Seven Pounds, but when a film affects and moves me as much as this one does (and it's done it three times now), I can't bring myself to cite it as anything other than excellent.

It's a hard film to describe without giving things away. The concept is simple, but told in a non-linear manner that keeps things hidden. At first, it may appear like a vain attempt to make the film seem more clever, but just go with it and it becomes a non-issue by the end. What you know is this; Will Smith is not in a good place. His opening phone call is announcing his own suicide. We then see him borderline stalking people who he has clearly never met before (they clearly do not know him either) with a desire to discover whether or not they are a good person.

It's a hard opening to get behind for sure, but the way the film unravels won me over. You may see a some of the plot coming before it arrives. It also has a final act that stretches credibility to the point where it almost snaps, but the overarching story that it's telling combines with the characters to instil an overwhelming wave of emotion in me and a number of other people I know. In fact, the only people I'm aware of who this film hasn't affected are people I don't even know. It's true that the film's chief want is to reduce it's audience to tears and that's an aim that frequently leads to criticisms of emotional manipulation. Again, I see the point. Again, I don't care.

Will Smith is at his absolute best here. I had a quick look through his other films and I've seen almost all of them. I can't name one where he delivers a better performance than this. Something tells me Hitch won't challenge it. There is so much internal conflict going on and Smith makes you feel every ounce of it. Supporting roles are also fairly good, with Rosario Dawson getting the best deal and Woody Harrelson delivering a decent, if underused, role as a blind pianist.

Here's testament to how much I like Seven Pounds. I've picked so many films over the last two years, with regards to what should be my first Full Education and I can't help but keep changing my mind. An initial attempt to find something where I like everyone in it and everything they've been in proved a fairly foolhardy exercise. I considered taking a classic, but what's the point of telling everyone how great a film is if they already know it. So that's why I'm choosing Seven Pounds. I love it and due to a fairly poisonous response from other critics, it's been pretty much forgotten about. It's helps that I'm a fan of Smith, Dawson and Harrelson; the latter two of which I consider amongst the most under celebrated actors working today. I understand how the criticisms levelled at Seven Pounds have shown their head and I'm not saying their wrong (I don't believe in the idea that an opinion can be wrong). I'm just accusing them of being heartless bastards!

NINE out of 10