Seven Pounds

Rating:

* *

Verdict:

Will turns off the charm, turns on the tears to tedious effect.

The title is supposedly a reference to Shylock's human tissue interest rate in the

Merchant of Venice

. Like a lot of things in

Seven Pounds

, it's never explained. Though it's probably a good thing as - like a lot of the film's over-reaching ideas about humanity, sacrifice and loss - the allusion never holds up.

And it's not just because Smith ain't Jewish - unlike Jesus, of which modern day, slightly flawed variations Smith seems to keep playing in his recent movies.

Yes, there is some flesh involved in this slow, sad train-wreck of a film which is delivered as a mystery of fractured chronology with a supposed slap-yourself,

Sixth Sense

-payoff of an ending.

Except, as we follow Smith's Ben Thomas, a guy who may be an Inland Revenue agent who was a rocket scientist in a former life on a mission to seemingly stalk a group of unrelated strangers all requiring some sort of medical help, it just doesn't earn its big revelation.

And you are left with the feeling that director Muccino, who directed Smith in the noble

The Pursuit of Happyness

, has opted for the jigsaw structure only because a linear narrative would have announced its ridiculousness much faster.

But the puzzle's first piece is Thomas ringing 911 to tell the operator he's committing suicide then takes two hours to loop back to that moment.

In between, there are flashbacks to Thomas' life before and after "The Big Moment" which drove him to such despair, and his efforts to extend his highly personal largesse to those strangers.

One of them is Rosario Dawson's Emily, a woman who may have a literally broken heart but who helps emotionally defibrillate Thomas' romantic one.

But Thomas remains a man on his redemptive mission in a story which, depending on personal sensibilities, will either provide spiritual food for thought - or be rejected as incoherent manipulative bunkum. That's as well as being a vanity vehicle for Smith desperate to show Academy voters just how deep, how troubled and oh so sensitive he can be.

Except you can see the self-conscious effort in all that acting all the way through this, and Smith's character soon becomes an unconvincing collection of furrowed brows, teary eyes and noble gestures.

It's truly gruelling. And while the Shakespeare reference might be just one of this film's more obvious confused ideas, at least that title is about half right. Because

Seven Pounds

sure sinks like a stone.

Russell Baillie

Cast:

Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson

Director:

Gabriele Muccino

Rating:

M (adult themes)

Running time:

123min

Screening:

Skycity, Hoyts, Berkeley cinemas