Seven Pounds

There has been some sort of unwritten agreement that nobody will talk about what happens in Seven Pounds, apparently because knowing anything about the plot before seeing the film will ruin your viewing experience. In my opinion, staying awake through Seven Pounds is what will ruin your viewing experience, but knowing the "secret" of the plot may make it worse. I don't particularly agree with the Seven Pounds code of silence because the film doesn't have a twist ending like an M. Night Shyamalan movie as much as it has a twist beginning like American Beauty, which just makes it "the plot" in my books. But I will go along with the secrecy gimmick because I don't want to be accused of spoiling the movie. Pursuit of Happyness Director Gabriele Muccino once again casts Will Smith in this emotionally manipulative, depressingly uplifting tale of a man seeking redemption for his past mistakes. Smith plays Ben Thomas, a man with a secret past revealed through annoyingly brief flashbacks, on a secret mission to do something that remains a mystery until the final moments of the film. Anyone with a modicum of insight and the ability to follow the plot complexities of a Dr. Seuss story will probably figure out the entire secret of Seven Pounds within about seven minutes. Without revealing the content of the film, I can say that Seven Pounds' attempts to tug on your heartstrings fall flat, and the whole "not really explaining what is going on even though it's really obvious" story actually prevents the audience from getting to know Smith's character and developing enough of an emotional attachment to feel anything but mild annoyance during the theoretically heart wrenching moments. Smith's deadpan, melancholy performance strips him of his natural leading-man charm, resulting in a sock puppet performance that could have been undertaken by anyone with the ability to pout convincingly. The DVD extras include all of the standard interviews — deleted scenes, commentaries and "Making of" features — though the short documentaries "The Box Jellyfish" and "The Art of the Printing Press" fill in some info on two of the plot devices, and are worth watching not because they are particularly fantastic but because they go beyond the usual "people talking about making the movie you just saw" that most DVDs consider special features. If you want to experience Seven Pounds before someone ruins it for you go out and rent it soon, but you can't really ruin what's already broken.