Seven Pounds

Well I must say this movie was so not what I was expecting. First of all the pacing was murderously slow. Staying awake was difficult. If I hadn't seen it in the theater I probably would have been asleep for sure.

In this movie you have some back and forth in time stuff. That's not one of my fav things. There is not explanation of what is going on for a long, long, long time.

Finally we get a Giving Tree kind of ending. Oh my! How sad. How frustrating. I'd say more but I'd be getting into serious spoiler territory. Suffice it to say, this was not the typical Will Smith vehicle.

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Bleacheddecay

I thought it was an ok film but, although it is slowly paced, the biggest problem I had was that it was so cliched. With one or two exceptions, you knew what was going to happen long before it did and I think that the only two things that suprised me was the end, or rather, the way it ended. The other I don't want to say, because I only expected it because of a theory I had about the title.

Speaking of which, does anyone have a definate explanation for the title? My friend and I came up with a couple that we liked.

My husband said that seven pounds is supposed to be the weight of donatable organs.

Really? Up to seven pounds or seven pounds exactly?

I must say, I've thought more about the ambiguity of the title 10 times more than I've actually thought about the film.

Big difference between 21 Grams and Seven Pounds (3175 grams).

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
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I'm not sure. I'll have to ask him sometime. These days we are often too busy to talk. I hate our schedules right now!

"Ken Anderson, Nicole Anderson, Ali Anderson, Ed wright, Stephen Phillips, Monica Freeman, Sarah Jensen".

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The Freedom Roads

Yes, I know that, but what is the seven pounds?

Surely they didn't base a film on something that foolish--did they?

do you not think so? I thought it was very much of the flavour of the other Gabriele Muccino film, The Pursuit of Happyness, and there are parts of I Am Legend too where Will Smith has this sweet gentleness of character. I love him don't you? I think we'll see a lot of good stuff in future from him, he's maturing as an actor. Always seems such a nice bloke too

Yeah, cos that would never happen.

I think the idea of the film was better than the final project ended up being too.

Someone told me that this film is very stupid and not worth watching because:



However, I don't trust this reviewer's opinion because the reviewer hated my Naughty Girl videos on Youtube.

... and that's how you properly dress a monkey.

the movie was very touching, and I did consider it classic Will Smith - that is, if you hearken back to his "other" movies (e.g. Six Degrees of Separation / Legend of Bagger Vance / Pursuit of Happyness, etc.). Point being - he HAS done emotional movies in the past, and very well, I might add, so no - I dont consider this movie a departure from the norm for him.

However, I was seriously underwhelmed for some strange reason. I remember watching it and thinking - wow, this is very touching, but its...lacking, for some reason!

I finally figured it out. Will's character was very Messianic in deed, but missing the messianic message by a large mark. I am very certain that they had no intention of making it a Savior-themed movie, but that was exactly what it was, and by taking away that theme, they robbed it of real meaningfulness. That meaning, (imho) was the only way that actions of this type can be justified. And viewing it this way, I was finally able to reconcile why I was touched, but still did not like the movie: it wasnt a good deed, it was a cop-out.

They dont want to get religious? Fair enough. But if that's not the point - then what is? That everyone who has ever physically harmed/killed another person should kill themselves to make restitution? Oh, and dont just kill yourselves people - donate your organs to save lives! And that explanation is the noblest I can conceive - it alarms me to think of the alternative byline:

Hey! You! Loser! Cant handle it? Pressure or guilt getting to you? Gonna kill yourself? Wanna die? We know. Life isnt for everybody. Suicide MIGHT be for you! So dont be selfish,

Save a Life - Kill Yourself!

Justifying suicide by dressing it up with the trappings of nobility doesnt make it right. A pig in a suit is still swine, and to me, the underlying theme of this movie stunk to hog heaven.

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something witty goes here......

So you are saying that religion had to be added to make this movie worth while?

Agnostic or atheist people can't want to make up for wrong actions and it be emotionally fulfilling without religion entering the deal?

Personally, what I think was missing was emotion. The characters were for the most part wooden. That and the pacing made us care far less.

The lead character was depressed. Depressed people often think about suicide. Some do so out of anger. Depression often comes from anger turned inward.

What sets this character apart from others who are depressed or who have caused the death of others is he does something about it. That's pretty rare. What he does is even more rare because it's something that hurts and eventually kills him. He does it again and again.

What he and most suicide victims fail to see is how their death will impact the others around them in a negative way. They might have enough anger to WANT to have a negative impact but in this movie he assumes a positive impact.

That assumption is likely to be wrong, at least in the case of the woman he is involved with in the movie. Emotions are likely to cause the woman's body to reject his misguided gift.

Perhaps I wasnt clear enough. In fact, I wasnt - and you've helped crystalize for me. This movie was about selfishness, and it could have been about selflessness.

I think suicide is wrong at any time, for any reason. I also think suicide is a cop out and cowardly - at any time, for any reason. I think that as a religious allegory, this movie would have worked because it would have taken on a (Messianic) meaning. In this way, it would not have been about a guilty-feeling guy offing himself, but about a man selflessly taking on the pain of others.

Lacking the "selfless" element to it - this movie ends up smack back at the first sentence of my second paragraph: it is about a guy who cops out facing up to living up to his mistakes in life.

He was clearly very wealthy - he could have not only literally saved, but even impacted far more lives than 7. No. Instead, he rathered put himself out of his misery, and to me, no matter how nobly he did that - he still did just that: put himself out of his misery.

I actually found it to be very moving - in a quiet and poignant way. however, I do agree that it lacked something, but I define that something as ...well, meaning!

Exactly. Well said. Now his friend lives sleepless nights and guilt ridden for the rest of his life because he didnt stop him from killing himself, and in fact helped him. Now his brother lives a guilt-ridden life because he wonders if he could have stopped it, or was the cause of this course of action, knowing that his brother first donated an organ to him.

One suicide in a social and/or family circle often leads to another.

While I'm against suicide in most cases except extreme pain / terminal cases, I've seen cases in RL that made me simply grateful that toxic ass didn't take more people with him or her at the onset.

I agree with you. It would have been better if there had been selflessness involved, as the movie clearly tried to makes us think, rather than the selfishness which is what was really going on.

Speaking of anger, if I knew this guy I'd be so angry!

im trying to keep this spoiler-free, but its hard!

movies like this are incomplete by nature. I kept wondering where his parents were. clearly he had a brother, and seemed to have a normal family/friend circle before any issues. i have a hard time seeing a person surrounded by a great support system not having someone tell him he's off his rock and perhaps needs some therapy.

that was thing i didnt get. this was not a problem therapy couldnt help. the guy needed someone to talk to, and it was a serious shame the only friend he confided in was to spineless too stand up to him and demand he seek help.

He was wrong but he was smart. He picked a "yes" man. He picked well.