I have taken the past few weeks off from blogging, and watching movies in general, but it is time to get back to it. 7 Pounds is the most recent movie I have watched, so I will take a few minutes to share my thoughts on it. First off, I had very low expectations for this film. I heard it was a lot like Pursuit Of Happyness, which I really didn't like. While the Will Smith character was very similar, for me 7 Pounds was a much better film. 7 Pounds starts out by thoroughly confusing us about what is going on. As the viewer, I wasn't sure if the events I was watching were in the past, present or future. The interactions were confusing, and we weren't sure who our protagonist was, or what the heck he was doing. However, it all starts falling into place pretty quickly, and at roughly the halfway point both me and my wife could tell exactly how it was going to end, even down to certain details. From talking to others I have heard this is not always the case. Some people seemed to have actually been surprised by the ending, which seems almost impossible to me. For me, the movie isn't trying to surprise us with the final scenes. It takes on the much more difficult task of keeping us interested in a story we already know the ending to. With this, I feel the movie really succeeded. Even though I felt like I knew everything that was going to happen, I remained very engaged in the story. There was one scene that I wasn't really expecting, though in hindsight I should have known it was coming. This man has decided his destiny, and set the course to arrive there at the end. He has put a lot of planning into it and is very resolute in his decision. However, there is one scene where we see him question what he is doing. For a few moments we see the fear he must be feeling. I didn't expect to see that, and I felt like it added a lot more depth to the story.
Now that I have sufficiently praised the movie, it is time to belittle it. My first complaint is the acting. I usually don't notice poor acting unless it is really bad. While I am not going to say Will Smith's acting was bad, it was kind of annoying at times. He does these facial expressions all of the time, and it just gets old. In an emotional situation I don't feel like I crinkle my face up and cock my head to the side, so why is this guy doing that same move in every scene. I think it is Will's way of acting out the character saying, "I want to tell you the truth, but I can't. So I am just gong to make faces at you."
Overall it was an enjoyable movie. I am glad I watched it.
-deric
Filed Under: Drama