Seven Pounds

Director: Gabriele Muccino
Starring: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, Barry Pepper, Michael Ealy
Running Time: 123 min.
Rating: PG-13

*** (out of ****)

As much as I can’t stand it when movie trailers give too much away, it pales in comparison to my annoyance with people determined to spoil a film for me. I say this because in the case of the humanitarian mystery-drama Seven Pounds everyone I encountered seemed almost determined to ruin the “big secret” at its center, almost as if it was their civic duty. Worse yet, after reading a review in my local paper that shared even more info without so much as a spoiler warning, I unwittingly told others, unaware of what I was giving away.

Would my opinion of this film be any different had I not known the secret? I don’t think so. I’d like to believe I would have figured everything out about halfway through (if not sooner) anyway and any film that dependent on one piece of information probably wasn’t much of a film to begin with. In a way, knowing freed me up to step back and view the picture more objectively without the element of surprise. But I’ll be extending you a courtesy that was not extended to me in revealing only what’s absolutely necessary, which isn’t much.

The film is kind of a one-trick pony but it executes its one trick well. It’s one of those movies that the second it ends you think you liked it a lot then upon further reflection you realize there were definitely some issues, but surprisingly, not nearly as many as you’d think. It’s shameless and makes no apologies for what it’s trying to do, at least gaining points for brave earnestness. The end result is an uneasy mixture of inspiration and creepiness, with that latter rearing its head probably a little more than was intended. Almost like a Hallmark card… wrapped in a body bag.

The film doesn't necessarily break Will Smith’s streak of wearing screenwriters’ sins on his sleeve as he’s once again he’s called upon to elevate very difficult material, this time burdened with maybe his heaviest lifting. The "Seven Pounds" in question may as well refer to the weight of this script. It’ll be to no one’s surprise that he delivers once again, but it’s his leading lady who really impresses and shows us something we never knew she had. I kept hoping the film would catch up to them. It doesn’t quite get there, but there’s still enough to admire.
Smith is mild-mannered I.R.S. agent Ben Thomas, a man who sets in motion a mysterious master plan involving seven strangers, the details of which at first make sense only to him, but come into full view for us (and them) later. He behaves bizarrely and for unclear reasons cruelly harasses a blind telemarketer (a cleverly cast Woody Harrelson) as the first step. He then insinuates himself into the life of Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson), who’s dying of congestive heart failure, doing so in a way that goes well beyond the parameters of your typical audit. She’s trying to figure out why he’s being so nice to her. So are we. His excuse: He has this feeling that she really deserves it. He’s right. She does.

In the midst of his emerging relationship with Emily he consults his longtime friend Dan (Barry Pepper), who apparently owes him a favor, and along with Ben’s brother (Michael Ealy), he seems to be the only other person privy to his special situation. As the story progresses and flashbacks reveal new information, the pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place and head toward a conclusion you sense (and practically fear) is coming. When it does though, it packs an emotional wallop. No matter what you think of the central conceit, you can’t deny it inspires debate and introspection after the final credits have rolled.

The movie is essentially the romantic relationship that develops between Ben and Emily and if this didn’t work the entire film would have collapsed under the weight of its own ambitions, which are arguably too lofty as it is. Smith and Dawson must sell two strangers completely falling for one another in an unreasonably short amount of time and absolutely nail it. Every second they share on screen together and the sparks they ignite are a joy to experience, almost as if they born to play opposite one another. It’s the perfect match. Muccino’s film moves at a snail’s pace but I hardly cared because it just meant I would get to spend more time with these two likeable people as the mystery slowly unfolds. While it could have been exhausting watching a tireless do-gooder for 2 hours, their connection makes it more than bearable.
I really believed this woman was on borrowed time both physically and emotionally, which is no small feat for an actress to pull off. There will be those complaining its impossible for anyone to “look that good” if they’re dying, but I’d argue it’s statistically impossible for only bad looking people to get sick. They try their best to make her look as sick as possible (and do a passable job) but Dawson’s performance is completely independent of that irrelevant detail. She captures the soul of someone who’s at the end of her rope just looking for someone to cling to, but too strong and proud to actually ask for help. The “dying woman” is the most thankless clichéd role an actress can possibly be saddled with in cinema, yet she finds a way to make it resonate deeply. How great is she? Smith, giving his best screen performance here since Ali, can’t even compete with her. It’s a career best.

Smith may be coasting lately with his questionable film choices, but at least he never phones his work in after he makes them. Of all his performances this one reminds me most of his breakthrough dramatic role in Six Degrees of Separation in that he’s playing a seemingly normal individual hiding a life-altering secret. He’s so good at hinting at the awkwardness and trepidation Ben feels as he gets closer to Emily, knowing the closer he gets, the closer he is to losing her. You can debate whether Ben’s master plan can be viewed as selfless or selfish, but those in the latter camp should consider that the film isn’t endorsing his actions but instead asking you to consider why he feels the need to do this.

It’s also questionable whether what he does is even legally feasible, which Grant Nieporte’s script acknowledges but wisely doesn’t dwell on. When stacked against Smith’s recent safe choices like The Pursuit of Happyness, I Am Legend and Hancock this would finish at the high end of the curve. Compared to that mainstream fluff it could almost be considered downright ballsy in what it’s asking the audience to contemplate. At least the film boasts an original premise we haven’t seen before and leaves you thinking about its consequences. When was the last time you left a Will Smith movie thinking about anything?
Muccino, who directed him previously in Happyness came to these shores after helming the original Italian version of The Last Kiss. To the disappointment of some, he’s embraced the type of mainstream entertainment I’ve complained Smith gravitates too much toward. But this works effectively drenching what could have been a pedestrian story in a fog of mystery. Even if you can’t get past the far-reaching, ambitious premise in the script you have to admit that it’s tight and all the cards fall right into place. Is it manipulative? Yes, but no more manipulative than, say, Milk. At least this dramatizes its manipulation in an interesting way and isn’t masquerading as an inspirational Oscar masterpiece of a film that will change the world. It isn't shoving an agenda down our throats.

There’s a growing cynicism I’ve noticed among critics these days in that they resist embracing anything scripted to provoke an emotional response, even if it inspires thought. Maybe some are embarrassed to admit they were moved by the ending of the film. I’m not. Much of that had to do with Smith and Dawson’s performances. The philosophically polarizing nature of the film reminded me of a book a friend once lent me outlining a bunch of different moral scenarios that asked what you’d do in each. I couldn’t put it down. This story feels as if were ripped from its pages.

It’s funny how most casual moviegoers I’ve spoken with liked the film a great deal but critics ripped it to shreds. That makes sense because it wasn’t made for them, but the failure of movies like this is bad news for the film industry as a whole. It suggests that sometimes we tend to overanalyze and as a result potentially lose out on a fulfilling experience. Movies should have me leaving the theater thinking and feeling. Seven Pounds accomplished both.

The Pursuit of Happyness

Director: Gabriele Muccino
Starring: Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Thandie Newton, Brian Howe, James Karen, Dan Castellaneta
Running Time: 117 min.
Rating: PG-13

*** (out of ****)

The Pursuit of Happyness poses a very interesting question: Is it possible to recommend a movie on the basis of a single performance even though at times the script seems like it was written by a fifth grader? After some deliberation I came to the conclusion that the answer is yes. I pose this question because this film seems to exist in a movie universe vacuum where there are only good or bad people, either very good or very bad things happen to you and everything is in black and white. You won't find any subtle nuances in this script and it's likely you could follow along with your screenwriting tip book and check off every event as it happens.

I've yet to see all the performances of this years Best Actor Academy Award nominees but I'm willing to bet no one had a more uphill battle and worse script to work with than Will Smith. He didn't deserve an Academy Award. He deserved a gold medal. Smith is forced to sell some pretty contrived stuff in this movie and he not only pulls it off, he manages to trick us into thinking we're watching a great motion picture. What we're really watching is a good motion picture pulling our strings, but Smith isn't the one pulling them. He's for real. He becomes Chris Gardner. He believes in Chris Gardner, and as a result, so do we. I didn't want to give in but I had to. You know where the story's going to end up way before it gets there but when it does you'd have to have to have a heart of stone not to be affected by it.

In 1981 San Francisco, Chris Gardner (Smith) is struggling to just make ends meet as a salesman to support his wife, Linda (Thandie Newton) and son Christopher (Smith's own son Jaden in a likeable performance that never gets too cute). He sells bone density scanners to medical professionals who quickly spot the giant contraption as an unnecessary and costly expense. Christopher spends his days at a day care facility where they spell happiness with a "y" and watch Bonanza and Love Boat all day. One of the nice touches of the film is that Chris is geniunely concerned and involved about the type of care his son is getting and his education while the day care worker and even his wife could care less. It's representative of the uphill battle Chris will face the entire film. They're way behind on bills and rent and Linda is frustrated having to work double shifts to support the family while Chris can barely sell a single machine.

Perhaps I've done a bad job explaining this because I've made it sound like the character of Linda is a rational human being, when in fact she's one of the most broad caricatures of a wife I've ever seen depicted on screen and Newton hits every wrong note playing her. She may as well have walked around wearing a t-shirt with a giant minus sign on it she's so negative. The glass isn't even half empty with this woman. There is no glass. Whenever Chris tries to even talk she screams at him in this shrill, annoying voice made all the worse because Newton is unsuccessfully attempting to hide her accent. Newton is a talented actress and I'm shocked she had a performance this bad in her, but in all fairness she's not given anything to work with.

This is based on a true story, but if Gardner's real ex-wife is anything like the character in this film than this is even more of an American success story than I thought. I don't know how he survived. I'm guessing that's not the case though and she likely resembled a real human being with feelings and emotions, not the one-dimensional shrew she's portrayed as here. Supposedly Newton stayed in character during the entire shoot. That's a nightmare I'd rather not think about.

Chris sees a way out of his funk when he notices a guy pull up in a nice corvette and asks him two questions that will change his life: "What do you do?" and "How do you do it?" He's a stockbroker at Dean Witter and at this point Gardner's voice over narration cuts in to let us know they're among the happiest people he's ever seen. I don't know about you but every stockbroker I've ever seen has been completely miserable and ready to hang themselves due to the insane amount of stress and pressure the job carries. I'm sure there are also many that love their jobs. It just so happens those will be the only ones you'll see in this film.

Chris finds out the answer to his second question and applies for a competitive internship at Dean Witter, which he lands by solving a Rubik's Cube in the back of a taxi cab. I'll give you a wild guess whether Linda is supportive of Chris' new career choice or whether she screams at him at the top of her lungs. She leaves him and strangely doesn't really put up much of a fight to keep little Christopher thus completing her transformation of all-around evilness. Maybe even she knew a broke Chris would still provide better care for her son than she ever could. Before long Chris is evicted from his apartment, thrown in jail, hit by a car and is forced with his son to stay in run down hotels, homeless shelters and in one particularly powerful and painful scene, a subway station restroom. He also seems to be in the running to capture the world record for parking tickets. How bad is it? He's getting tickets when he doesn't even own a car.

Steve Conrad's script for this film is downright embarrassing at times. There's one scene on a basketball court where Gardner talks to his son in a way that's so out of character it belongs in another movie, only take it back a second later to give a huge inspirational speech about how wrong he was. Luckily the movie settles into a groove after Gardner is evicted and he's out on the streets with his son. It's here where the real-life father and son chemistry between Smith and Jaden take over and Smith is so earnest and so good in this role he hides most of the film's contrivances.

There's a great scene where he shows up straight from jail, covered in paint and without a shirt to his Dean Witter interview. He's forced to deliver some pretty ridiculous dialogue but he sells it all like a pro and we believe by the end of the scene, despite his appearance, these guys would be crazy not to hire him. At times I felt the whole movie was a battle between Smith's acting and Conrad's contrived script. Smith won. I could only imagine what Smith could have done with a screenplay that had some juice behind it, but this isn't really the type of film made to have to you thinking about deep, complex issues when it's over. It's an audience pleasing, life-affirming movie that delivers a strong message. To that end, it's successful.

The film was made Italian director Gabriele Muccino who's making his English language feature debut. He previously directed L' ultimo bacio, which some may recognize as the Italian film that was adapted into last year's The Last Kiss starring Zach Braff. Supposedly he was chosen by Smith because he wouldn't bring a cynical view of the American dream to this movie the way an American director would. I can kind of see his point and Muccino does as good a job as possible at hiding all the flaws in Conrad's script and the film moves at a nice, even pace.

I remember years ago seeing a piece on TV on the real Chris Gardner and thinking in the back of my mind that it would probably make a pretty good movie. It does, even though it could have been a little smarter. Still, it's refreshing to see a movie that knows what it is and doesn't make any apologies for it. We're so used to seeing movies with sex, violence, war, murder and natural disasters that we sometimes forget it's important to see films that make us feel good about ourselves and the world around us. The Pursuit of Happyness may be trite and simplistic, but the real story behind it and what it says isn't.