Seven Pounds
| Seven Pounds | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Gabriele Muccino |
| Written by | Grant Nieporte |
| Produced by | Todd Black Jason Blumenthal James Lassiter Will Smith Steve Tisch |
| Starring | Will Smith Rosario Dawson Woody Harrelson Michael Ealy Barry Pepper |
| Cinematography | Philippe Le Sourd |
| Edited by | Hughes Winborne |
| Music by | Angelo Milli |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates | December 19, 2008 (USA) January 16, 2009 (UK) |
Running time | 123 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $54,000,000 |
| Box office | $130,051,824 |
Seven Pounds is a 2008 drama film, directed by Gabriele Muccino. Will Smith stars as a man who sets out to change the lives of seven people. Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, and Barry Pepper also star. The film was released in theaters in the United States and Canada on December 19, 2008 by Columbia Pictures.
Plot
Two years ago Tim Thomas (Will Smith) was in a car crash, which was caused by him using his mobile phone; seven people die: six strangers and his fiancée, whom he identifies by name during a moment of internal conflict. The victims are Ken Anderson, Nicole Anderson, Ali Anderson, Ed Rice, Stephen Philips, Monica Freeman and Sarah Jenson.
A year after the crash, and having quit his job as an aeronautical engineer, Tim donates a lung lobe to his brother, Ben (Michael Ealy). Six months later he donates part of his liver to a child services worker named Holly (Judyann Elder). After that he begins searching for candidates to receive gifts from him. He finds George (Bill Smitrovich), a junior hockey coach, and donates a kidney to him, and donates bone marrow to a young boy named Nicholas (Quintin Kelley).
Two weeks before he dies he contacts Holly and asks if she knows any one who deserves help, she suggests Connie Tepos (Elpidia Carrillo), who lives with an abusive boyfriend. Tim moves out of his house and into a local motel taking with him his pet box jellyfish. One night after being beaten Connie contacts Tim, he gives her the keys and deed to his beach house. She takes her two children and moves in.
Having stolen his brother's IRS credentials (making himself known by his brother's name, Ben Thomas) he checks out candidates for his two final recipients. After rejecting a candidate for badly treating an old lady in his care he selects two others. The first is Ezra Turner (Woody Harrelson), a blind meat salesman who plays piano. Tim calls him and harasses him at work to check if he is quick to anger, he remains calm and Tim decides he is worthy.
He then contacts Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson), a self-employed card printer who has a rare heart condition. He poses as an IRS agent (IOW as his brother), then spends time with her, weeding her garden and fixing her rare Heidelberg printer. He begins to fall in love with her and decides that as her condition has worsened he needs to make his donation.
His brother tracks him down to Emily's house. As demanded by Ben, Tim returns Ben's IRS ID to him and we find out that Tim has been lying about his name and identity until this point. He has a passionate night with Emily, then leaves and returns to the motel. He fills the bathtub with ice water to preserve his vital organs, climbs in, and then pulls his very poisonous jellyfish into the water with him. The jellyfish stings him and he dies a very painful and dramatic death. His friend Dan (Barry Pepper) acts as executor to ensure that his organs are donated to Emily and Ezra. Ezra Turner receives his corneas and Emily receives his heart. Afterwards Emily meets Ezra at a concert and they begin to talk. Emily then notices Tim's eyes in Ezra's face and she begins to cry.
Production
Seven Pounds is based on a script written by Grant Nieporte under Columbia Pictures. In June 2006, Will Smith joined the studio to star in the planned film and to serve as one of its producers.[1] In September 2007, director Gabriele Muccino, who worked with Smith on The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), was attached to direct Seven Pounds, bringing along his creative team from the 2006 film.[2] Smith was joined by Rosario Dawson and Woody Harrelson the following December to star in Seven Pounds. Filming began in February 2008.[3]
Cast
Will Smith stars as Tim Thomas, under the identity of an IRS agent (his brother Ben Thomas).[3] Smith described the reason he took on the role:
Usually with the films that I make there are ideas that I connect to, but lately I've been dealing with the bittersweet in life because it feels more natural. You don't ever get it really the way you want in life. That really fascinates me. As an actor, there are certain parts of a character that you create, and you train yourself to have those reactions and then it becomes hard to stop them when the role is over. You have to retrain yourself. My character in this film is like hot grits. You know you can't shake them off and when you do, it hurts. But I'll be darned if they don't taste good. Know what I'm sayin'?[4]
Smith felt that the character needed to be a quiet and rather introverted person who does not burn himself out at every possible instance. The character was a contrast to Smith's previous characters, and Smith felt that director Gabriele Muccino's trust in him helped him relax and avoid overextending himself. Smith acknowledged Seven Pounds as a drama film, but he saw it as more of a love story.[5]
Also in the film are Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, Barry Pepper, Robinne Lee and Michael Ealy.[6] Will Smith handpicked Ealy for the role of the main character's brother.[7] Connor Cruise, the 13-year-old son of actor Tom Cruise and actress Nicole Kidman, was cast in his first role as a younger version of Tim Thomas.[8]
Release
Prior to the film's release, the title Seven Pounds was considered a "mystery" which the studio refused to explain. Early trailers for Seven Pounds also kept the film's details a mystery. Director Gabriele Muccino explained the intent: "The [audience] will not know exactly what this man is up to." Will Smith is reported to have confirmed that the title refers to Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice, in which a debtor must pay a pound of flesh.[9] In this case it amounts to parts of his body donated to seven persons deemed worthy by Smith's character. They are the recipients of his heart, a lung, part of his liver, and his eyes, among other things.
Seven Pounds was promoted on a five-city tour across the United States in November 2008, screening in Cleveland, Miami, Dallas, St. Louis, and Denver to raise funds for food banks in each region.[10] The film was also promoted at a charity screening in Minneapolis in support of Second Harvest Heartland.[11] Since screenings of new films usually took place in Los Angeles or New York City, the choice of cities was unconventional. Smith said, "This is more like the old-school music tours. Different clubs, different cities, meeting people. You get in touch with what people are feeling and thinking, and it's much more personal when you're actually out shaking hands."[12] The actor sought to "get reacquainted" with an America that he felt had an "openness to change" with the country's election of Barack Obama as the first African-American president.[13]
The film was released on December 19, 2008 in 2,758 theaters in the United States and Canada. It grossed an estimated $16 million, placing second at the weekend box office after Yes Man. The opening gross was the lowest for a film starring Smith since Ali in 2001. The gross was also $5 million less than anticipated, partially ascribed to winter storms in the Northeast over the weekend.[14] According to studio research, 64% of the audience was over 25 years old, and 55% were female.[15]
Critical reception
Critics have given the film generally negative reviews.[16] The movie website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 28% of critics gave the film positive write-ups based upon a sample of 130 with an average score of 4.7/10.[17] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 36 based on 31 reviews.[16]
Variety's film reviewer Todd McCarthy predicted that the movie's climax "will be emotionally devastating for many viewers, perhaps particularly those with serious religious beliefs", but characterized the film as an "endlessly sentimental fable about sacrifice and redemption that aims only at the heart at the expense of the head."[18] Other established reviewers were more critical; A. O. Scott, writing for The New York Times, said that the movie "... may be among the most transcendently, eye-poppingly, call-your-friend-ranting-in-the-middle-of-the-night-just-to-go-over-it-one-more-time crazily awful motion pictures ever made."[19] Positive reviews singled out Dawson's performance; Richard Corliss wrote in Time that Dawson gives "a lovely performance,"[20] while Mick LaSalle of The San Francisco Chronicle noted that Dawson's performance "shows once again that she has it in her to be a powerhouse."[21]
It should be noted that Seven Pounds has proved popular with fans. As voting stood on 25th January 2009, 11 days after its UK release date and a little over a month after its release in the USA, 19,477 votes on an IMDB poll gave the movie an average of 7.6/10, with 26.6% of those votes giving it 10/10. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814314/ratings
References
- ^ Fleming, Michael (June 4, 2006). "Col's putting on 'Pounds'". Variety. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ Fleming, Michael (September 6, 2007). "Smith to star in 'Seven Pounds'". Variety. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b Siegel, Tatiana (December 5, 2007). "'Pounds' gains Dawson, Harrelson". Variety. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ Samuels, Allison (November 28, 2008). "The Gospel of Will Smith". Newsweek. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ Topel, Fred (December 15, 2008). "Will Smith discusses Seven Pounds". CraveOnline.com. CraveOnline Media, LLC. Retrieved Decmber 19, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ Swart, Sharon (November 14, 2008). "Seven Pounds". Variety. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ Kit, Borys (February 4, 2008). "Ealy rolls 'Seven' for Col". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Leonard, Elizabeth (April 44, 2008). "Connor Cruise Is Making His Big Screen Debut". People. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Wright, Gerard. Will Smith's Seven Pounds, and four kilos. Stuff.com.nz, 03 January 2009
- ^ Heldenfels, Rich (November 21, 2008). "Fans brave cold for Smith". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ "Will Smith to attend Minneapolis movie premiere". Minnesota Public Radio. December 7, 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ O'Connor, Clint (November 21, 2008). "Will Smith visits Cleveland to promote new movie Seven Pounds". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ Williams, Joe (November 20, 2008). "Will Smith makes friends in stop here". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ McClintock, Pamela (December 21, 2008). "'Yes Man' tops weekend box office". Variety. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ Gray, Brandon (December 21, 2008). "'Yes Man,' 'Seven Pounds' Lead Quiet Pre-Christmas Weekend". Box Office Mojo. Box Office Mojo, LLC. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ a b "Seven Pounds (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Seven Pounds Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ McCarthy, Todd (December 17, 2008). "Seven Pounds". Variety. Retrieved December 19, 2008.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ Scott, A. O. (December 19, 2008). "An I.R.S. Do-Gooder and Other Strangeness". The New York Times. Retrieved December 19, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ Corliss, Richard (2008-12-18), Yes Man and Seven Pounds: Santas for Hard Times, Time, retrieved 2009-01-12
{{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ LaSalle, Mick (2008-12-19), Movie review: Will Smith in 'Seven Pounds', The San Francisco Chronicle, retrieved 2009-01-12
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