7 Pounds

This was a rather sweet and inspiring film although i did have issues with it in places. The film flashes a very slight resemblance to the film 21 Grams in it's subject matter but told in a very different way. I was reading a chapter in "The Happiness Hypothesis" about Altruism vs Selfishness in the evolution of humans. Self sacrifice is common with many animals and insects as they regard themselves as many cells in one giant organism. But despite evidence to show that the selfish people often prosper from a Darwinian viewpoint, Altruistic behaviour appears time and time again with Human Beings. It's a rather touching and inspiring film about redemption.

This film was very touching. I did have slight issues with the distribution of film time devoted to particular characters. Woody Harrelson's character barely saw more than 5 minutes of screen time despite being a very interesting actor/character to watch. The film seems to stop progressing about two thirds in with Will Smith struggling to do more than continue his portrayal of a strong silent type with a past to hide and a future to plan.

Despite being somebody who teared up watching "The pursuit of Happiness" I did manage to make it through this one without succumbing to the desire to shed a tear. The end scene brought me very close though, very close indeed. A fine performance by Will Smith, his acting ability never surprised me, ever since the often unknown performance he gave in "Six Degrees of Separation" I have seen the range that this superstar has. Bravo Mr Smith, keep up the good choices in roles, but next time, more of Mr Harrelson, he is rather underrated too.