Caffeinated Clint
By Clint Morris
If there’s one thing I didn’t enjoy so much about my days in commercial radio it was trying to run a show whilst manning the switch-heavy panel in front of me. Now if only I knew then that Will Smith was so into ‘pushing buttons’, I could’ve just called him in.
Smith’s planning to embed dried-up boogers in your noses again with his newest release, the sweet but outstandingly overemotional Seven Pounds. And if you don’t feel an invisible prod in the theater, chances are you won’t notice the film’s tone goes from the intriguing and classy – a’la Tim Burton’s ”Batman” – to way-too-camp – say Joel Schumacher’s ”Batman Forever” – before its ultimate big reveal.
There’s no way to describe the plot without spoiling it, so let’s just say Smith plays a mysterious IRS agent who suddenly starts snooping into the lives of the sick and underprivileged – particularly that of a dying woman (Rosario Dawson) whose in need of a new heart, and a blind meat salesman (Woody Harrelson, in a thankless cameo). There’s a reason behind his actions, but the filmmakers don’t want you to know what it is before the third-act.
Smith’s a great actor. We know that. You only have to check out his performances in films like ”Ali”, ”Six Degrees of Separation”, ”The Legend of Bagger Vance” and 2006s ”The Pursuit of Happyness” (whose director Gabriele Muccino returns here as helmer) for the evidence. He’s also a very versatile actor – swimming comfortably being ludicrous popcorn flicks to smaller, more meaningful flicks that he hopes speaks more sense to the people than, well, Martin Lawrence. A Will Smith movie will not let you down – at the very least you’ll be entertained.
”Seven Pounds” is no exception – it’s an entertaining movie with an interesting concept, and yep, Smith’s as good as ever in it. Thing is, its obvious Smith (and writer Grant Nieporte – fresh from TV sitcom land) were going for a little more than just an entertaining movie here – they wanted something that’d revitalize the sad sack humans out there, bring benevolence to the populace, and stay with you for years. Yet, it doesn’t – you’ll forget all about it by the time you’ve pulled into the 7-Eleven on the way home from the theater for the Milk and Bread you need for the next day’s breaky. And as for changing the way we think and behave? Can’t see it doing that.
And why? Because it forces itself on its audience like Michael Jackson at a Disneyland appearance and doesn’t let you up. It’s just all too over-the-top and somewhat, well, suffocating. And as for the great big rousing ambitious twist it has in its tail? Well, you’ll have guessed it within the first half-hour (the fact that the film begins with the final sequence, Smith’s character committing suicide is a clue they probably shouldn’t have gave).
In addition, and personally speaking, I was rather creeped out by this premise – not to mention the character Smith’s playing here. And though he believes he’s doing good things by what he’s doing, he’s really not – he’s cheating, and actually neglecting the people whose lives he’s now started to touch. But maybe you won’t see it that way, and maybe you will fall for the whole set-up, and maybe you won’t shamefully chuckle as the surprisingly camp last sequence plays before you.
What a year for Smith, hey? This and ”Hancock”. Wonder what his new year’s resolution will be?
