Seven Pounds

I recognised the motel from Memento.

Parts of Seven Pounds were indeed Memento-lite or even Kieslowski super-lite. It's a movie that blends the profound with the abstruse, the touching with the schlocking...one presumes consciously.

Will Smith's new-found interest in emotional pain is unfortnately not matched by his ability to act it. His extensive repertoir of strange stammers of voice and face (he's tried to freeze one here in the poster) goes a long way to counteract the sympathetic believability of Rosario Dawson's portrayal of dickie-hearted Emily. (But then she feeds her dog tofu...)

I'm surprised that Tim/Ben is even on the loose. The usual way people make reparations for this kind of thing (DUIB: driving under the influence of a Blackberry) is by doing jail time. And there should probably also be prison sentences for the kind of lifelong guilt trips he ultimately condemns his second set of 'victims' to.

It's still not clear to me why the movie is called 'Seven Pounds' but it's bound to be something fairly similar to the rationale behind 21 Grams.

Grade: B