So as I was waiting for class to start at 9 this morning, I picked up the most recent edition of the Statesman (UMD's own newspaper) and read an article done by Kyle DeGoey. In his article he gave his personal review on two recent box office hits. The first was Bride Wars, which was irrelevant to me because I haven't seen it. Then I saw that he also did a review on Seven Pounds and there it was, like a punch in the face, it reads
Overall Grade: D-I was thinking "there's no way that grade is right, it has to be a mistake" and I continued to read line after line of what I imagine as black sludge spewing out of his mouth. Now if you've seen Seven Pounds you know that the very beginning is indeed a 911 call where Will Smith's character is clearly distraught and drowning in a pool of mixed emotions and in this call he states he needs an ambulance because there's been a suicide. When the dispatcher asks who the victim is he says "I am" and the scene ends. DeGoey states
"Since the audience knows how it ends, we are all better off leaving after the first 30 seconds."
To that I would have to say you actually DON'T know how it ends. Those 30 seconds and the actual end to the movie are a universe apart and if you've seen it I think you'd agree. DeGoey continues on to complain that the movie was so confusing and that you are constantly asking yourself question about who's who and what's going on. Yes, those questions went through my head just as they did his but instead of claiming that this type of story line was "just annoying", it made me stare harder at the screen, convinced that the pieces would fall into place before I left the theater. I was very determined to find the answer, that patchwork that would fill in all the gaps thus far. And as the movie progressed and you followed Will Smith's character through a journey of forwards, backwards, up, and down, the movie started to delicately, but fiercely make sense. What I think is great about this movie is it leaves so many possibilities open to your imagination and I think almost everyone will find that at one point or another they will try to finish the movie before it's actually over. I think the confusion of this film only leads you to be more hungry for the truth about what has actually been going on and what it means.
DeGoey also tries to give a watered down argument that "Smith doesn't carry this film" when I believe the entirely painful, polar opposite. Through every scene I found myself thinking that there was something about Smith's character that wasn't quite right. He always has a look of distant despair on his face, like there was so many things pulling every which way on the inside that he couldn't compose, or even know his normal self was. I felt this gave the film a lingering pull on the audiences' hearts and inner beings. I believe Smith portrayed the message, feel, and sound of this storyline with the utmost passion and sincerity.
DeGoey closes with the conclusion that "It [Seven Pounds] fails in every aspect from the contrived love story to the horrendous music choices." which is ironic because the genre of a "love story" took a backseat to a more suiting "drama" which it was released as. The point of this movie was not to display an epic love story (like it may come off as), but a heart-wrenching soul struggle and I believe that is what makes it unique in comparison to the other 90% of movies in Hollywood today. I think DeGoey missed the boat big time on this one and it just may be that he chose not to or lacks what is needed to take this movie for what it is. Of course he's entitled to his opinion but to me it seems like it was an opinion rooted from the atypical road this film follows. I left this movie in tears, deeply moved, and exhausted at the thought that people ACTUALLY do go through this in life and that for some it won't necessarily end in a way that dismisses a crowd with a feeling of devastation and triumph that lumps in your throat and pulls at your heart.
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