Morality has never seemed as arduous as in this morbidly drawn, intense drama filled with questions and pretension - even the charismatic Smith cannot save this absurd tale
3 Comments
12/22/08
Seven Pounds (2008)
27
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:172
Fresh:47
Rotten:125
Average Rating:4.6/10
Consensus: Grim and morose, Seven Pounds is also undone by an illogical plot.
Australian Rating: TBC
Genre: Dramas
Australian Theatrical Release:
Jan 8, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $69,951,824
Synopsis: Academy Award® nominee Will Smith reunites with the directors and producers of The Pursuit of Happyness for the emotional drama Seven Pounds. In the film, Smith plays Ben Thomas, an IRS agent with... [More]
Starring: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, Barry Pepper
Director: Gabriele Muccino
Reviews for Seven Pounds
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; Australian critics are listed first)
Top CriticThe film's most abiding mystery lies in the question of why it ever got made.
01/08/09
Top CriticIt's the kind of premise that a writer will lovingly nurture and probe, but it fails the truth test. As a love story it's unsatisfactory and as a redemption story it's slightly ridiculous
12/22/08
Top CriticNeither literal poetry nor the reliable charm of Will Smith can save his character from the folly of screenwriter Grant Nieporte’s deeply flawed premise.
01/08/09
Top CriticEven by the standards of gotcha flicks, Seven Pounds seems especially somnolent and pretentious.
01/08/09
Top CriticThere is indeed a secret, but it is not overly challenging to work out what's going on in this annoying film.
01/09/09
Top CriticAlthough the story wobbles at times, Seven Pounds stays the course thanks to Muccino's skilled direction.
01/08/09
Top CriticI would tell you to go out and see it for yourself, but you might take that as a recommendation rather than a plea for corroboration. Did I really see what I thought I saw?
12/19/08
Top CriticThe worst movie ever to star Will Smith, this is a morbid drama which is meant to reduce its audience to tears of empathy, but reduced me to groans and helpless laughter.
01/16/09
Scrooge is Will Smith's 21st century workaholic with text messaging addiction issues. Suicide by jellyfish, don't ask. Paging Dr. Kevorkian.
12/21/08
Will Smith has played an alcoholic superhero, a mystical caddie and a fighter pilot on a mission to save the planet from aliens, but Ben Thomas might just be the most unbelievable role of them all.
12/24/08
Will Smith gives the best performance of his career in a movie that pounds on your heart.
12/23/08
The outcome will make you want to throw a shoe at the screen.
12/19/08
Where the weird government employee, who lives in a hotel that rents by the hour and buys sting rays for his aquarium, gets tested.
12/19/08
I am fascinated by films that observe a character who is behaving precisely, with no apparent motivation. A good actor brings such a role into focus, as Will Smith does in the enigmatically titled Seven Pounds.
12/18/08
Top CriticIt affirms life as something enormous and important, not small, not meaningless, but monumental and worthy of big statements.
12/19/08
Smith and Dawson both look like death, so watching their romance-on-life-support is painfully dreary and tragically unsexy
12/23/08
The whole thing ends in what's meant to be a spectacular act of selfless generosity -- but really plays as mad, messianic egoism.
12/19/08
Director Gabriele Muccino seems to think he's in Ingmar Bergman territory, but he's actually made the longest, most dour episode of My Name is Earl imaginable.
12/16/08
a diffuse and disjointed effort
12/28/08
Latest News for Seven Pounds
January 16, 2009:
UK Critics Consensus: The Wrestler Pile-drives The Critics, But Don’t Waste any £s on Seven Pounds
With critical success for Slumdog Millionaire last week (94%), we have more award-friendly fare in the UK cinemas this Friday in Darren Aronofsky's spandex-tastic The Wrestler.... More...
December 28, 2008:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Marley Takes #1, The Spirit Tanks
This weekend people were in the mood for movies over Christmas weekend as multiplexes were jam-packed with customers that powered four different new releases to more than $30M... More...
December 22, 2008:
Will Smith as widower wracked with guilt. 
More...
December 21, 2008:
Smith, in his typical impressive pressure cooker character fashion, is a nervous wreck suicidal IRS agent who raises pet jellyfish, and seems to enjoy harassing when not stalking his clients. Paging Dr. Kevorkian.
More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
40 Best Films of the 2000s
Last week, Moviefone offered us their worst films of the 2000s. Now see their 40 best!
Competitions
Win Funny People on DVD
We're giving away copies of Judd Apatow's latest.
RSS Feeds