Movie Review - 7 pounds

I have been trying to write this review for the last 4 days, but it really is a hard thing to do without giving away the ending or the plot.

Nor is it easy to describe the deeply convoluted story in words. So much is conveyed in Will Smith's brillant acting - his sorrowful face, his smile which never reaches his eyes, his hopeless gestures, even the sadness of the one sad suit he wears everywhere. Even more is accomplished by the non-linear technique, which is really art imitating life, for which of us lives one day after another?

Its a powerful story, no doubt. Very few stories about restitution aren't. I think there is something in us all which warms to the idea of a man (or woman) trying to set right the things they have done wrong. ("My name is Earl" had a good run because of this, because the acting and stories were crap.)

However, 7 pounds leaves you without the key ingredient of the restitution story - hope of deliverance. We want the guy who is trying so hard to pay for his sins to come into his own, for someone to say, you have done enough, now its time for your rewards. In 7 pounds, not only does this not happen, you see the futility of it unfolding and watch in mind-numbed dumb horror as Will's character heads towards the inevitable.

And you care. You care that he has taken to road, and you weep with him. You care about the other characters, even those with less than 7 minutes of screen, because of the compelling way they drive the narrative forward.

7 pounds is a heavy movie. It will make you think about God, ethics, morality, imperfect love and mostly justice. And it will make you think about mercy, grace and what true love is about.