Friday, December 26, 2008

SEVEN POUNDS




Drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Will Smith: Ben Thomas, an IRS agent
Woody Harrelson: Ezra Turmer, a customer service agent
Elpidia Carrillo:Connie, an abused wife
Rosario Dawson: Emily, a young woman with serious medical problems
Michael Ealy: Ben's brother
Barry Pepper: Ben’s best friend Dan

REVIEW
By not revealing Ben’s motives we are left to figure out his unusual behaviour by ourselves. It’s a bit of a guessing game with some clues provided by brief flashbacks from time to time.

Frankly it would have worked much better if we found out right at the beginning what he was up to instead of “oh, that’s what it was all about. Now it makes sense”.

CLASSIFICATION
for thematic material, some disturbing content and a scene of sensuality.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
The back seat windows in Ben’s car close automatically by themselves when left alone. Not once, but twice. The first time is when Ben drives Emily back from the hospital with her dog Duke in the backseat and both windows open for him. After seeing her to the door as Ben gets back into the car we can see the back window is now closed.

The second time is after they have had a picnic but without the dog so the backseat window behind Ben is only cracked open a couple of inches. But not when he returns to drive off; once more it’s closed right up.

P.S.
A pound of flesh is slang for “a particularly onerous or unpleasant obligation.”

No comments: