SEVEN POUNDS

Any movie that sparks the urge in viewers to run down to the DMV, wait in line for two hours, and immediately change the donor option on their licenses to “yes” is worth at least the honorable mention come Golden Globe day.

“Seven Pounds” didn’t get that mention at the Globes this year, but this holiday tear-jerker won the hearts of movie-goers everywhere.

Will Smith is the king of compassion in first-timer Grant Nieporte’s screenplay. The Oscar-nominated actor shed the beard and the bad boy superhero persona from his last film, “Hancock,” to portray a gentler, clean-shaven character for whom the motto, “kill others with kindness” works better when the phrase, “or kill yourself first” follows.

Smith, who plays the soft-spoken Ben Thomas, launches his kind crusade on seven people, all of whom are desperately in need. Thomas goes to extraordinary lengths to help those he deems worthy of a break, lengths that include giving his organs, impersonating an IRS representative to freeze their past due accounts, and even giving up his home. Two of Smith’s seven beneficiaries get the most screen time in the film, blind sales representative Ezra Turner (played by Woody  Harrelson) and weak-hearted hospital patient Emily Posa (played by Rosario Dawson), the latter of whom becomes the woman who — literally — keeps his heart.

Although viewers weep when Thomas professes his love for Posa, they are left grasping thin air when trying to figure out why Thomas feels compelled to be so kind. The movie briefly flashes scenes of Thomas’s past — a wife, a home, a crash, what seems to be seven people dead with Thomas at fault – but these scenes come late in the film, far too late for viewers to care anymore. The scene organization throws off what is otherwise a movingly written film.

Smith portrays Thomas as a man torn by grief, guilt, and desire for nothing more than to please others, in spite of his own well-being. The character inspires viewers to not only wait in that line for that amount of time, but to also be as kind as they can to everyone waiting with them.

Jessica Williams can be reached at [email protected]

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

Movie watchers at a local multiplex during “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” may have heard this from a fellow audience member: “Hey, that’s where I feed the ducks! But the water’s clean… and there’s no trash.”

In New Orleans, at least, statements like this were heard at almost every screening, where — to locals — the star of the show was not Brad Pitt, but his hometown. The film shone a spotlight on many shots of the city, especially those in the French Quarter or local parks.
“Button,” shot almost entirely in New Orleans, tells the story of a man who was born old and ages backwards as he moves forward in life. It is told from the point of view of a young woman  reading to her elderly mother, Daisy, from the diary of the aforementioned medical oddity. To add to the drama, she happens to be reading the diary to her mother in August 2005 —  late August 2005. While it is difficult to figure out why this fantasy about a backwards-aging man was tied in with something as jarringly real as Hurricane Katrina, the addition of the 2005 storyline and ending definitely brought something to the film. (Probably Kleenex, as at times the moving soundtrack was drowned out by the sniveling of audience members.)

Though he may have played second fiddle to the scenery, Pitt seems to have been an excellent choice for the title role, which he plays very honestly and simply in that no-frills fashion he typically employs. He is at his best towards the beginning of the film when he plays the child Benjamin, trapped in an old man’s body. His romantic counterpart throughout the film, Daisy, is played by Cate Blanchett, who  seems to be turning into one of those annoying people who only look better with age.

With the exception of some predictable old people jokes and Pitt’s atrocious Georgia accent — which promises to offend the ears of anyone living within 300 miles of New Orleans — the film had an imaginative, intriguing storyline. “Button” is well worth seeing in theatres, if for no other reason than to see New Orleans in all her pride and glory. She cleans up well.

Sarah Wild can be reached at [email protected].