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Demisemicenturian 
"Four ever European"
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 Posted - 01/20/2009 : 12:12:27
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Seven Pounds
3/5
I cannot really be bothered to talk about this too much since it is more so-so idea than substance, but (i) to what does the Pounds refer and (ii) (spoiler) have I imagined details of dying from a jellyfish sting? Doesn't it cause cardiac arrest? So wouldn't the heart be damaged and/or full of poison?! |
Edited by - Demisemicenturian on 01/20/2009 12:13:08 |
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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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Posted - 01/21/2009 : 16:29:11
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quote:
Originally posted by Salopian
Seven Pounds
3/5
I cannot really be bothered to talk about this too much since it is more so-so idea than substance, but (i) to what does the Pounds refer and (ii) (spoiler) have I imagined details of dying from a jellyfish sting? Doesn't it cause cardiac arrest? So wouldn't the heart be damaged and/or full of poison?!
[i]The pounds refer to 1 x 7 pounds of flesh, a reference I'm sure you know from The Merchant of Venice.
[ii] It's a valid question but ... invisibo mode there is actually an antidote to box-jelly fish poison so the person who's been stung and given said antidote would still be able to live normally - I don't know enough about the medical minutiae but presumably the affected heart is capable of recovery.
As to the film - Now - if you'd done something v. bad and other people took the brunt of your bad - how would you atone? Would you give them/their loved ones the shirt off your back? How about all your wordly goods to them endow? Or an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth? Or ...
That's Will's dilemma. The film becomes a quasi mystery, quasi melodrama about absolving guilt, about living with various kinds and degrees of pain. It reaches resolution in a way conceived to be manipulative, and probably, as it did with me, it will bring on an involuntary sniffle or two. Yes, one can be moved by the association of ideas despite the drivel playing out on the screen.
To counteract the film's sting [!] is the very wise choice of Rosario Dawson in a key role. Not yer typical beauty, but stately, and as they used to say of strong women - handsome. She's always been good, but here she's a lifesaver to a film that sure does need saving. What makes her the perfect foil for Smith - whose acting isn't in doubt, but whose easy charm punctuated by confusion would otherwise be insufferable - is that she's ordinary with some indefinable extra, she's strong but intensely vulnerable and not afraid of it.
What's bigtime wrong with the conceit of a guy playing out scenarios with strangers - we know not why till later - is that the mystery adds zilch to our real understanding of what's motivating the character. It's immaterial that we know the inciting incident that sets him off. And anyway, we get early-on some flashbacks that make it clear if you speak the language of cinema; in fact there are virtually no surprises if you do.
I think the film would have been stronger and more interesting if we were allowed to travel with Will on his journey of expiation. I'd be more intrigued by seeing him handle his dilemma rather than trying to guess what it is. It ain't that much of a revelation, so trying to work it out just gets in the way of the real heart [!] of the story -- the power of unintended consequences.
BTW -- Woody Harrelson's very good.
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 01/22/2009 : 01:13:54
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I did wonder whether it was a pound of flesh reference, but as I strangely have actually never seen The Merchant of Venice I had slightly misunderstood what the phrase meant: I thought it was revenge rather than recompense (and of course it should really be taken by the debtee rather than given -- to someone else! -- by the debtor; however, fair enough).
O.K., at least my other area of query would be a possible scenario, even if very inconvenient for the medical staff!
Dawson used to be extremely good-looking and, even with her very strong features, not in an unconventional way. However, I agree that she was pretty good, as is Harrelson -- although he is slightly playing his White Men Can't Jump character/himself. The latter was hammered home to me by his character (according to Smith's) being a vegan; when I later saw VEGAN written in large letters on a hospital patient's notes I started to wonder whether he had asked for it in his contract! |
Edited by - Demisemicenturian on 01/22/2009 01:17:15 |
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 04/06/2009 : 11:59:02
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quote:
Originally posted by BaftaBabe
[quote] The film becomes a quasi mystery, quasi melodrama about absolving guilt, about living with various kinds and degrees of pain. It reaches resolution in a way conceived to be manipulative, and probably, as it did with me, it will bring on an involuntary sniffle or two. Yes, one can be moved by the association of ideas despite the drivel playing out on the screen.
I think it takes advantage of its audience, requiring close attention while it teases, the plot literally running circles around the viewer's highly manipulated perception. This goes on for an hour and a half. When the payoff finally comes, it can't help but disappoint, and unlike many of its trick-ending cousins, you don't want to see this glacial, jumbled mess again.
I thought Rosario Dawson was very fine -- as was Smith, in his way. He may be the last real movie star. But it's still junk. |
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Beanmimo 
"August review site"
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Posted - 04/06/2009 : 12:04:57
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the last real movie star you say?
He may be the current last real movie star but there are always a few more potentials in the pot.
Don't worry. |
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 04/06/2009 : 20:56:06
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| Trust me on this. |
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Seven Pounds
