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Opening Dec. 19, "Seven Pounds" tells the story of Ben Thomas (Smith), an engineer posing as an IRS agent who aims to right past wrongs by helping seven strangers in need, one of whom, played by Rosario Dawson, he unexpectedly falls in love with. Woody Harrelson (pictured) brings a gentle humanity to the character of a blind pianist, and Barry Pepper gives his small but critical role a soul-searching intensity.
The film functions on many levels: It's a love story, but it's also a philosophical exploration of what makes life meaningful, and the consequences of selfishness versus selflessness. It's something of a mystery as well, unfolding right up to the end as the enormity of Thomas' situation is revealed.
Be warned: "Seven Pounds" is also, in the parlance of Hollywood, a real three-hankie weeper. In fact Dawson's mother, after seeing an early clip, suggested that Kleenex might want to sponsor the film. "She said they should just give you a pack of tissues when you pick up your ticket!" laughs the actress, whose character, Emily Posa, suffers from congenital heart disease.
Beth Haller, Ph.D., is Co-Director of the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (www.gadim.org). A former print journalist, she is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Center on Disability and Journalism (https://ncdj.org/). Haller is Professor Emerita in the Department of Mass Communication at Towson University in Maryland, USA. Haller is co-editor of the 2020 "Routledge Companion to Disability and Media" (with Gerard Goggin of University of Sydney & Katie Ellis of Curtin University, Australia). She is author of "Representing Disability in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media" (Advocado Press, 2010) and the author/editor of Byline of Hope: Collected Newspaper and Magazine Writing of Helen Keller (Advocado Press, 2015). She has been researching disability representation in mass media for 30+ years. She is adjunct faculty in the Disability Studies programs at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Texas-Arlington.
From Variety:
