Minireview: Seven Pounds

An overlong, meandering tale of guilt and sacrifice. I think the story itself could have been told with more power via a linear, compact story-line, but this unusual technique does manage to distract from some of the larger plot-holes. Will Smith's emotional distance also moves us away from sentimentality - one scene near the beginning works well to confuse us as to his true character. The air of mystery is intriguing, but I doubt it work on a second viewing. Rosario Dawson was great, providing all the heart, while Barry Pepper and Woody Harrelson are underused.

In the end, it all feels a bit empty - it's hard to understand our odd, emotionless protagonist, much less his motivations for what he does. The Christological theme was interesting, but given where the film ends up, unnecessary and incorrect. The whole film is rather pretentious, in retrospect.

2.5/5 stars

Hannah Long

Saving Private Ryan - Movie Review

Steven Spielberg has always had a penchant for the grandiose. It is very much on display in Saving Private Ryan, both in the enormous scope of the project and the scale of violence. At the time of its release, this film was hailed as markedly graphic. Watching it today, after the last decade of Tarantino and the desensitization that accompanies that, it's hard to comment, but it is still shocking and unlike films like Braveheart, it imbues every death with importance, even those of faceless soldiers on the beaches of Normandy. 

Certainly unlike Braveheart, it has enough respect for the enemy to not draw them as one-dimensional Disney villains. They are Nazis, but they are human beings. (It was clear, to me at least, that the one cruel decision made by a Nazi was impersonal and almost accidental, once again driving home the point that in wartime, there is no time to stop and think, to pause and pick out one man in the mayhem.)