December
17
Seven Pounds: Will Smith Takes a Fall
It had to happen sooner or later. Will Smith has been inside the fluke zone where he can do no wrong for seven years now. (His last flops were Ali, The Legend of Bagger Vance and Wild Wild West.) Well, Seven Pounds will be the end of that extraordinary run.
Scott Foundas's pan broke the review embargo in The Village Voice, followed swiftly by Todd McCarthy, whose review is only slightly less devastating:
Given Emily's vulnerability, Ben's gentle patience with her, Smith's and Dawson's attractiveness, the lushly intimate widescreen images devised by Muccino and lenser Philippe Le Sourd, and Angelo Milli's literally incessant button-pushing score, "Seven Pounds" offers either seductive emotional appeal or indigestible mawkishness, according to taste.
The movie will open on Smith's name but it's hard to imagine good word-of-mouth spreading after that. Smith's okay in the movie, but he cannot carry it alone. The object of his affections, Rosario Dawson, has to carry it too, and she can't. But even a far more talented actress would have had a hard time with this sentimental hokum.
I liked Gabriele Muccino's last collaboration with Smith, Pursuit of Happyness. The strength of that movie was that it was based on a true story, which grounded it. This fable is too contrived. It's possible that audiences will buy it and fall for its heartstring manipulations. But I doubt it.
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ALI wasn't a *total* flop -- he did get nominated for an Oscar, thereby shrugging off the last trace of the Fresh Prince (and making history as the first rapper to be nominated for Best Actor). So, probably a bit more worth doing than WILD WILD WEST, which is essentially an ISHTAR-type punchline at this point.
Posted by: karina | December 17, 2008 at 01:49 PM
Agreed. Speaking in strictly boxoffice terms here. Smith always gives his all and deserved that Oscar nomination for Ali, a cred-building pic all around.
Posted by: Anne Thompson | December 17, 2008 at 02:02 PM
All of Hollywood is watching to see what happens at the box office this weekend with Smith's pic. His triumph-of-the-spirit pic "The Pursuit of Happyness" opened to $26 million on its way to grossing $162.6 million. Whether "Seven Pounds" can have the same multiple is a big question mark!
Posted by: boxofficeboffo.com | December 17, 2008 at 02:10 PM
Now you see, funny how we see the same things different ways. I genuinely liked Seven Pounds and this is coming from someone who is about as far from being a Will Smith fan from most people. True, the mawkishness does gets heavy handed, but I thought it was a really interesting and mainly successful attempt by him to do something different. And I thought Smith's performance was quite good. Far better than the overrated performance he gave in that overrated (and annoying) Pursuit of Happyness
I like the mainly non-linear, fractured struture of the film and it was a relief to see Smith do something that didn't require overdone bad CGI effects and phony looking unconvincing cartoon vampires. I agree it'll probably not match the grosses of his previous films because of its downbeat nature, but I'm assuming that Pounds was made for a much smaller budget than most of his films and that he took a big slalry cut to make it. Does anyone have any details?
Posted by: Sergio | December 17, 2008 at 02:47 PM
When you say flop please define, because Ali and Bagger Vance were the only two which didn't make over $100 million.
I think "Seven Pounds" will do well, Will Smith has a built-in fanbase.
Posted by: Seth | December 17, 2008 at 04:57 PM
When was the embargo suppose to end? My goodness the movie opens Dec 19th.
Posted by: lac | December 17, 2008 at 05:08 PM
they were holding out for opening day
Posted by: Anne Thompson | December 17, 2008 at 05:37 PM
Will Smith's super-movie powers will have a hard time making this film a hit. People like a happy ending plus this movie would have been helped a LOT by trimming the running time down.
Vic
Posted by: ScreenRant.com | December 17, 2008 at 10:02 PM
Will Smith will draw in the initial audience as indicated but will word of mouth slow down the flux of viewers who may still continue to come to the theater for Smith?
Probably.
The fervent Smith fans will show up on week one, the rest on week two and then the word of mouth crowd will filter out the numbers in subsequent weeks, at best.
Heart strings + Will Smith = ???
-Bruce
Posted by: Bruce Simmons | December 18, 2008 at 06:16 AM
I just seen this film. I have to say, I would give it 10 out of 5 stars. This movie was incredible. Will Smith carried the role very well and as well as Rosario Dawson. Who ever wrote this article needs to see the movie and re-write this awful article. I promise that almost any person who watches this, with a kind heart, will end up in tears. Being a man or woman. I think the movie will definitely be up for an Emmy next year. Please see this movie.
-Tylor
Posted by: Tylor | December 18, 2008 at 10:46 AM
The picture cost $60 million. I'm guessing it will do at least $70-120 million domestic, another $100 million+ overseas. So even with substantial marketing costs, when you stack home entertainment revenue on top, that would certainly mean it's a profitable venture, worst-case scenario.
But I don't follow the tracking, so this theory is just based upon what I feel is the intense experience of the film for the general audience.
I think the critics who completely dismiss the film are missing that. But...maybe they're right and I'm wrong. We'll see.
Boxoffice aside, for me, POUNDS is certainly one of the most thematically interesting films of the year. That's probably the long-lapsed Catholic in me cheering for a movie that (MILD SPOILER ALERT) takes penance all the way to its ultimate destination.
PS: Scott Foundas' review seems to indicate that Scott didn't understand the lead character's true vocation. Did anyone else notice that?
Posted by: dobbsy | December 18, 2008 at 06:01 PM
How is this movie any more contrived than other movies like The Notebook? THAT was a stretch of a movie if I've ever seen one...
Posted by: cj | December 19, 2008 at 02:22 PM
You know what I find funny? The movies that Will Smith opens and go on to the big bucks, never really open against any big competition. I'm glad that some studio head is gutsy enough to do that and prove that Will Smith is just a big egotistical actor. I know I will get a lot of crap and attacks from all the Will Smith's fans. Have you seen how he promotes his kids? Comparing your son to Sean Penn as an actor is just too far. I was NEVER charmed by him and I never understand why a lot of people did. I guess I never saw Fresh Prince? You can say that is quiet confidence. But I would say before anyone criticize my comments, please watch one of his interview and/or with his kids, and look closely.
Posted by: Macavoy | December 21, 2008 at 09:08 PM
Lately, Will's movies contain a thinly-veiled dislike/hatred/stereotype/anger toward Whites. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's there. In Hancock, we learn he is a Black God kept from his White Goddess since the racist 1950s when the two were seperated from a presumably angry White mob who beat him severely causing memory loss. In I Am Legend, the evil creatures were pale skinned monsters with European features. He kills all of them off, and in the end, the gates of a mountain utopia are opened wide revealing a majority of people of color (Blacks, Asians, Hispanics) welcoming him inside.
Are all of his movies that way, and I just never noticed before? Is it Will? Or is it Hollywood? I'm to the point where I don't want to watch any of the junk.
Posted by: John | December 23, 2008 at 08:24 PM
Has anybody considered the other side of suicide? Do you realize that this movie glamorizes suicide? Are all who now feel guilty for such tragedies to be considered heroes if they too decide to commit suicide? Are all those who think about suicide going to be enthused by such an outrageous idea? And lastly, apparently the producers failed to educate themselves about suicide at all...suicide is considered a crime. Therefore, an autopsy must be performed. There is not such thing as donating one's organs if it is a suicide. This movie completely disrespects all people touched by suicide and is disgusting. I am shocked at such a movie.
Posted by: Tracy | December 24, 2008 at 09:08 PM
I ditto what Tracy said. I was appalled by the premise of this movie. Mediocre acting aside (and it was all pretty mediocre, imo), I left the theater feeling manipulated and angry! There was NOTHING noble about what Will Smith's character did. Wracked with guilt, he chose to end his life - and whoever wrote the screenplay tried to manipulate me into thinking it was some kind of great sacrifice.
The protaganist (sp) was SICK & needed mental help! He certainly wasn't a hero and if this film is nominated for any kind of award, I think I will get sick. Worst film I've seen in a long time.
Posted by: Phoebe | December 26, 2008 at 07:32 PM
Are you guys kidding me right now? Look, sure there are some things that in real life probably would not have taken place. Like the autopsy and things like that. But come on, was the point of the movie to really promote suicide or anything like that? no. The point of this movie was to make people think about others before themselves. He helped seven people, two of which he helped by giving himself. I'd love to save people, but I'm not gonna go commit suicide now to do it. Like i said, the point was to make you think. Stop getting into the intricate details of the movie and look at the big picture.
Posted by: Ryan | December 31, 2008 at 09:16 AM
Of course YOU won't commit suicide. You are not suicidal, nor do you carry guilt with you for the death of another person. Sure, what a wonderful thing to think of others before you think of yourself...got it. But what you are missing is the way he goes about doing it. For those of us who have lost a loved one to suicide, I am here to tell you they do not think of others before they think of themselves. They only want to end their pain. And that is what the character in this movie did. He ended his pain and guilt by committing suicide and coloring it up to make it look good by giving all his organs away. Did he stop to think about his family that he was leaving behind and how they would deal with his suicide? NO! There would be my point. Until you have experienced suicide in one way or another, you have no idea what you are talking about.
Posted by: Tracy | January 03, 2009 at 12:10 AM
Please guys, this is just a movie. Why get so worked up? It's bad enough out there in the real world. We should just comment about the movie not get personal and take it on each other. Its a sad show and great performance from the all the cast.
Posted by: Raven | January 03, 2009 at 08:42 AM
I thought "Seven Pounds" was an excellent movie.
Posted by: NeNe | January 06, 2009 at 12:32 PM
I think it is absolutely ridiculous with the negative reviews about Will Smith's movie 'Seven Pounds'. To me it promotes self belief that you should make up for your negative effects on the world, but it definitely doesn't promote suicide saying its a good thing to do. Anyone who thinks this is stupid, when people watched Terminator did they make human-killing cyborgs that destroyed the world, or when Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released did millions of people around the world go around killing each other with chainsaws... well the answer is NO! So what would make anyone stupid enough to think that a movie such as Will's, is going to turn the world into some sort of mass suicide, any suggestion is just totally inappropriate.
Posted by: Matt | November 03, 2009 at 04:01 AM
I enjoyed the movie. It was entertaining & the ending was moving. It was NOT excellent-- as I don't usually find Will Smith's movies to be generally. I am not a big Will Smith fan but I think he IS a decent actor & now producer. I MUCH preferred this to the PURSUIT of HAPPYNESS, which plays into the whole distraction that if one has the will there is a way and that anyone can make it, the self made man.. etc That is rubbish. We do not live in a classless society where every man can truly acheive prosperity. That's the ideal sold to us, through movies like that, using that rare exception to show us that if we are not successful it is our fault alone. There are social and economic problems that make such upward mobility impossibile for many. Anyow, the cast was good here. I thought Dawson was great. I'd give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Posted by: senrei | November 25, 2009 at 08:51 PM