Seven Pounds

This is a somewhat heart-warming movie that you’d even be encouraged to take your children to see.

It’s the story of IRS agent Ben Thomas (played by Will Smith) who uses his badge as the key to gain entry into the lives of seven strangers who each have a different need. For one, its money; for another sympathetic ear, whatever the need, agent Thomas seeks to offer the salve that will make their troubles go away. Of course, love intervenes and threatens to derail Thomas’ plans when he seeks to help a woman suffering with chronic heart failure, and finds himself hopelessly falling for her.

The acting in this film is first rate, and Smith especially handles his role in an engaging and charismatic way, which makes his character all the more believable. This is an important factor for a film such as this, with a plot that stretches the boundaries of plausibility. But because of the way the actors ply their craft, the viewer is more than willing to surrender to the imaginary journey this film wants to take him on.

I enjoyed this film immensely because it allowed me to enter into an entirely different dimension than that presented by real life. I got the same feeling when reading Mitch Albom’s “The Five People You’ll Meet in Heaven.” You know the story is steeped in fantasy, yet you want to go there and wrap yourself in its warm embrace.

This film is definitely worth the couple of hours it takes to view, and you’ll definitely come away enriched by the process.