Seven Pounds
Encyclopedia
Seven Pounds is a 2008 film, directed by Gabriele Muccino
. Will Smith
stars as a man who sets out to change the lives of seven people. Rosario Dawson
, Woody Harrelson
, and Barry Pepper
star. The film was released in theaters in the United States and Canada on December 19, 2008, by Columbia Pictures
. Despite generally negative reviews from critics it was a box office success, grossing $166,617,328 worldwide.
), sending a text message while driving, caused a car crash in which seven people died: six strangers and his fiancee, Sarah Jenson (Robinne Lee
).
In a bid for redemption, Tim sets out to save the lives of seven good people. A year after the crash, having quit his job as an aeronautical engineer, Tim donates a lung lobe to his brother, Ben (Michael Ealy
), an IRS employee. Six months later he donates part of his liver to a child services worker named Holly (Judyann Elder
). After that, he begins searching for more candidates to receive donations. He finds George (Bill Smitrovich
), a junior hockey coach, and donates a kidney to him, and donates bone marrow to a young boy named Nicholas (Quintin Kelley).
Two weeks before he dies, he contacts Holly and asks if she knows anyone who deserves help. She suggests Connie Tepos (Elpidia Carrillo
), who lives with an abusive boyfriend. Tim moves out of his house and into a local motel, taking with him his pet box jellyfish
. One night, after being beaten, Connie contacts Tim and he gives her the keys and deed to his beach house. She takes her two children and moves in to their new home.
Having stolen his brother's credentials, and making himself known by his brother's name Ben, he checks out candidates for his two final donations. The first is Ezra Turner (Woody Harrelson
), a blind meat salesman who plays the piano. Tim calls Ezra Turner and harasses him at work to check if he is quick to anger. Ezra remains calm and Tim decides he is worthy.
He then contacts Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson
), a self-employed greeting card printer who has a heart condition and a rare blood type. He spends time with her, weeding her garden and fixing her rare Heidelberg Windmill press
. He begins to fall in love with her and decides that as her condition has worsened he needs to make his donation.
Tim's brother Ben tracks him down at Emily's house, demanding that Tim return Ben's IRS credentials. After an interlude with Emily, Tim leaves her sleeping and returns to the motel. He fills the bathtub with ice water to preserve his vital organs, climbs in, and commits suicide(the jelly fish sting simulated near death and didn't actually kill him.0 by pulling his box jellyfish
into the water with him. His friend Dan (Barry Pepper
) acts as executor to ensure that his organs are donated to Emily and Ezra. Ezra Turner receives his cornea
s and Emily receives his heart. Afterward, Emily meets Ezra at his concert at a park, and they begin to talk.
under Columbia Pictures
. In June 2006, Will Smith joined the studio to star in the planned film and to serve as one of its producers. In September 2007, director Gabriele Muccino
, who worked with Smith on The Pursuit of Happyness
(2006), was attached to direct Seven Pounds, bringing along his creative team from the 2006 film. Smith was joined by Rosario Dawson
and Woody Harrelson
the following December to star in Seven Pounds. Filming began in February 2008.
Most of the film was shot in Los Angeles
, Pasadena, California
and Malibu, California. Points of interest used in the film include the Travel Inn in Tujunga, California, the Colorado Bar, The Huntington Library
, The Sheraton
and The Pasadena Ice Skating Rink all in Pasadena, as well as Malibu Beach in Malibu.
Smith described the reason he took on the role:
Smith felt that the character needed to be a quiet and rather introverted person who does not burn himself out at every possible instance. The character was a contrast to Smith's previous characters, and Smith felt that director Gabriele Muccino's trust in him helped him relax and avoid overextending himself. Smith acknowledged Seven Pounds as a drama film, but he saw it as more of a love story.
Will Smith handpicked Ealy for the role of the main character's brother. Connor Cruise, the son of actor Tom Cruise
and actress Nicole Kidman
, was cast in his first role as a younger version of Tim Thomas.
, in which a debtor must pay a pound of flesh. In this case, it amounts to seven gifts to seven individuals deemed worthy by Smith's character, to atone for seven deaths he caused.
of Barack Obama
as the first African-American president.
The film was released on December 19, 2008 in 2,758 theaters in the United States and Canada. It grossed an estimated $16 million, placing second at the weekend box office after Yes Man
. The opening gross was the lowest for a film starring Smith since Ali
in 2001. The gross was $5 million less than anticipated, partially ascribed to winter storms in the Northeast
over the weekend.
, sales generated $24,148,973
gave the film a rating of 27% based upon a sample of 184 reviews with an average
score of 4.6/10 At Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 36 based on 33 reviews.
Variety
s film reviewer Todd McCarthy predicted that the movie's climax "will be emotionally devastating for many viewers, perhaps particularly those with serious religious beliefs," and characterized the film as an "endlessly sentimental fable about sacrifice and redemption that aims only at the heart at the expense of the head." A. O. Scott
, writing for The New York Times
, said that the movie "may be among the most transcendently, eye-poppingly, call-your-friend-ranting-in-the-middle-of-the-night-just-to-go-over-it-one-more-time crazily awful motion pictures ever made."
Positive reviews singled out Dawson's performance; Richard Corliss
wrote in Time
that Dawson gives "a lovely performance," while Mick LaSalle
of the San Francisco Chronicle
noted that Dawson's performance "shows once again that she has it in her to be the powerhouse." Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun Times commented on the fact that the audience is kept completely out of the loop as to what Tim is doing, pointing out how he "finds this more interesting than a movie about a man whose nature and objectives are made clear in the first five minutes, in a plot that simply points him straight ahead."
Gabriele Muccino
Gabriele Muccino is an Italian film director. He is the elder brother of actor Silvio Muccino, who often appears in his brother's films....
. Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
stars as a man who sets out to change the lives of seven people. Rosario Dawson
Rosario Dawson
Rosario Isabel Dawson is an American actress, singer, and writer. She has appeared in films such as Kids, Men in Black II, 25th Hour, Sin City, Clerks II, Rent, Death Proof, The Rundown, Eagle Eye, Alexander, Seven Pounds, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Unstoppable.-Early...
, Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
, and Barry Pepper
Barry Pepper
Barry Robert Pepper is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing roles like Sergeant Michael Strank in the Clint Eastwood film, Flags of Our Fathers, Private Daniel Jackson in Saving Private Ryan, Roger Maris in 61*, Ned Pepper in True Grit and for his recent role as Robert F...
star. The film was released in theaters in the United States and Canada on December 19, 2008, by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. Despite generally negative reviews from critics it was a box office success, grossing $166,617,328 worldwide.
Plot
Two years ago, Tim Thomas (Will SmithWill Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
), sending a text message while driving, caused a car crash in which seven people died: six strangers and his fiancee, Sarah Jenson (Robinne Lee
Robinne Lee
Robinne Lee is an American actress. She appeared in Hotel for Dogs with Don Cheadle and Emma Roberts and with Will Smith in Seven Pounds.-Life and career:...
).
In a bid for redemption, Tim sets out to save the lives of seven good people. A year after the crash, having quit his job as an aeronautical engineer, Tim donates a lung lobe to his brother, Ben (Michael Ealy
Michael Ealy
Michael Brown , professionally known as Michael Ealy, is an American actor.-Personal life:Ealy was born in Silver Spring, Maryland. He attended Springbrook High School and the University of Maryland, College Park.-Career:...
), an IRS employee. Six months later he donates part of his liver to a child services worker named Holly (Judyann Elder
Judyann Elder
Judyann Elder is an American actress, director, and writer. She is a veteran of stage and screen who has appeared in scores of theatrical productions throughout the United States and Europe as well as popular television shows, including Family Matters, Martin, and Murphy Brown.- Biography :Judyann...
). After that, he begins searching for more candidates to receive donations. He finds George (Bill Smitrovich
Bill Smitrovich
-Personal life:Bill Smitrovich was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Anna and Stanley William Zmitrowicz, a tool and die maker. Bill is a graduate of the University of Bridgeport and holds an MFA from Smith College . He is married to Shaw Purnell from Pittsburgh, PA...
), a junior hockey coach, and donates a kidney to him, and donates bone marrow to a young boy named Nicholas (Quintin Kelley).
Two weeks before he dies, he contacts Holly and asks if she knows anyone who deserves help. She suggests Connie Tepos (Elpidia Carrillo
Elpidia Carrillo
Elpidia Carrillo is a Mexican actress who has appeared in various acclaimed Latin-American films and television shows, in addition to some Hollywood films. She is also credited as Elpedia Carrillo on some of her films....
), who lives with an abusive boyfriend. Tim moves out of his house and into a local motel, taking with him his pet box jellyfish
Box jellyfish
Box jellyfish are cnidarian invertebrates distinguished by their cube-shaped medusae. Box jellyfish are known for the extremely potent venom produced by some species: Chironex fleckeri, Carukia barnesi and Malo kingi are among the most venomous creatures in the world...
. One night, after being beaten, Connie contacts Tim and he gives her the keys and deed to his beach house. She takes her two children and moves in to their new home.
Having stolen his brother's credentials, and making himself known by his brother's name Ben, he checks out candidates for his two final donations. The first is Ezra Turner (Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
), a blind meat salesman who plays the piano. Tim calls Ezra Turner and harasses him at work to check if he is quick to anger. Ezra remains calm and Tim decides he is worthy.
He then contacts Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson
Rosario Dawson
Rosario Isabel Dawson is an American actress, singer, and writer. She has appeared in films such as Kids, Men in Black II, 25th Hour, Sin City, Clerks II, Rent, Death Proof, The Rundown, Eagle Eye, Alexander, Seven Pounds, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Unstoppable.-Early...
), a self-employed greeting card printer who has a heart condition and a rare blood type. He spends time with her, weeding her garden and fixing her rare Heidelberg Windmill press
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG is a German precision mechanical engineering company with head offices in Heidelberg . It is a manufacturer of offset printing presses sold globally. The company has a worldwide market share of more than 47% in this area and is the largest global manufacturer of...
. He begins to fall in love with her and decides that as her condition has worsened he needs to make his donation.
Tim's brother Ben tracks him down at Emily's house, demanding that Tim return Ben's IRS credentials. After an interlude with Emily, Tim leaves her sleeping and returns to the motel. He fills the bathtub with ice water to preserve his vital organs, climbs in, and commits suicide(the jelly fish sting simulated near death and didn't actually kill him.0 by pulling his box jellyfish
Box jellyfish
Box jellyfish are cnidarian invertebrates distinguished by their cube-shaped medusae. Box jellyfish are known for the extremely potent venom produced by some species: Chironex fleckeri, Carukia barnesi and Malo kingi are among the most venomous creatures in the world...
into the water with him. His friend Dan (Barry Pepper
Barry Pepper
Barry Robert Pepper is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing roles like Sergeant Michael Strank in the Clint Eastwood film, Flags of Our Fathers, Private Daniel Jackson in Saving Private Ryan, Roger Maris in 61*, Ned Pepper in True Grit and for his recent role as Robert F...
) acts as executor to ensure that his organs are donated to Emily and Ezra. Ezra Turner receives his cornea
Cornea
The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Together with the lens, the cornea refracts light, with the cornea accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power. In humans, the refractive power of the cornea is...
s and Emily receives his heart. Afterward, Emily meets Ezra at his concert at a park, and they begin to talk.
Production
Seven Pounds is based on a script written by Grant NieporteGrant Nieporte
Grant Nieporte is a screenwriter best known for the film Seven Pounds. Nieporte got the idea for the script after having a chat with a man whom he called "one of the saddest people I've ever met in my life"...
under Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. In June 2006, Will Smith joined the studio to star in the planned film and to serve as one of its producers. In September 2007, director Gabriele Muccino
Gabriele Muccino
Gabriele Muccino is an Italian film director. He is the elder brother of actor Silvio Muccino, who often appears in his brother's films....
, who worked with Smith on The Pursuit of Happyness
The Pursuit of Happyness
Varèse Sarabande released the soundtrack on January 9, 2007, which included sixteen tracks.-Box office:The film debuted first at the North American box office, earning $27 million during its opening weekend and beating out heavily promoted films such as Eragon and Charlotte's Web...
(2006), was attached to direct Seven Pounds, bringing along his creative team from the 2006 film. Smith was joined by Rosario Dawson
Rosario Dawson
Rosario Isabel Dawson is an American actress, singer, and writer. She has appeared in films such as Kids, Men in Black II, 25th Hour, Sin City, Clerks II, Rent, Death Proof, The Rundown, Eagle Eye, Alexander, Seven Pounds, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Unstoppable.-Early...
and Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
the following December to star in Seven Pounds. Filming began in February 2008.
Most of the film was shot in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
and Malibu, California. Points of interest used in the film include the Travel Inn in Tujunga, California, the Colorado Bar, The Huntington Library
The Huntington Library
The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens is an educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington in San Marino, in the San Rafael Hills near Pasadena, California in the United States...
, The Sheraton
Sheraton Hotels and Resorts
Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide's largest and second oldest brand . Starwood's headquarters are in White Plains, New York.-Sheraton history:...
and The Pasadena Ice Skating Rink all in Pasadena, as well as Malibu Beach in Malibu.
Cast
- Will SmithWill SmithWillard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
as Tim Thomas, under the identity of Ben Thomas. - Michael EalyMichael EalyMichael Brown , professionally known as Michael Ealy, is an American actor.-Personal life:Ealy was born in Silver Spring, Maryland. He attended Springbrook High School and the University of Maryland, College Park.-Career:...
as Ben Thomas, Tim's brother and an IRS agent. - Barry PepperBarry PepperBarry Robert Pepper is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing roles like Sergeant Michael Strank in the Clint Eastwood film, Flags of Our Fathers, Private Daniel Jackson in Saving Private Ryan, Roger Maris in 61*, Ned Pepper in True Grit and for his recent role as Robert F...
as Dan Morris, Tim's friend and executor of his will. - Rosario DawsonRosario DawsonRosario Isabel Dawson is an American actress, singer, and writer. She has appeared in films such as Kids, Men in Black II, 25th Hour, Sin City, Clerks II, Rent, Death Proof, The Rundown, Eagle Eye, Alexander, Seven Pounds, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Unstoppable.-Early...
as Emily Posa, a self-employed greeting card printer and Tim's love interest. - Woody HarrelsonWoody HarrelsonWoodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
as Ezra Turner, a blind meat salesman who plays the piano. - Elpidia CarrilloElpidia CarrilloElpidia Carrillo is a Mexican actress who has appeared in various acclaimed Latin-American films and television shows, in addition to some Hollywood films. She is also credited as Elpedia Carrillo on some of her films....
as Connie Tepos, a woman in a battered relationship with her boyfriend. - Judyann ElderJudyann ElderJudyann Elder is an American actress, director, and writer. She is a veteran of stage and screen who has appeared in scores of theatrical productions throughout the United States and Europe as well as popular television shows, including Family Matters, Martin, and Murphy Brown.- Biography :Judyann...
as Holly, a child services employee. - Bill SmitrovichBill Smitrovich-Personal life:Bill Smitrovich was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Anna and Stanley William Zmitrowicz, a tool and die maker. Bill is a graduate of the University of Bridgeport and holds an MFA from Smith College . He is married to Shaw Purnell from Pittsburgh, PA...
as George, a junior hockey coach. - Quintin Kelly as Nicholas, a child.
- Robinne LeeRobinne LeeRobinne Lee is an American actress. She appeared in Hotel for Dogs with Don Cheadle and Emma Roberts and with Will Smith in Seven Pounds.-Life and career:...
as Sarah Jenson, Tim's fiancee - Madison PettisMadison PettisMadison Michelle Pettis is an American teen actress, best known for playing Sophie Martinez on the Disney Channel sitcom Cory in the House and as Peyton Kelly in the 2007 film The Game Plan.-Life and career:...
as Connie's daughter
Smith described the reason he took on the role:
Smith felt that the character needed to be a quiet and rather introverted person who does not burn himself out at every possible instance. The character was a contrast to Smith's previous characters, and Smith felt that director Gabriele Muccino's trust in him helped him relax and avoid overextending himself. Smith acknowledged Seven Pounds as a drama film, but he saw it as more of a love story.
Will Smith handpicked Ealy for the role of the main character's brother. Connor Cruise, the son of actor Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
and actress Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
, was cast in his first role as a younger version of Tim Thomas.
Title
Prior to the film's release, the title Seven Pounds was considered a "mystery" which the studio refused to explain. Early trailers for Seven Pounds kept the film's details a mystery. Director Gabriele Muccino explained the intent: "The [audience] will not know exactly what this man is up to." Will Smith is reported to have confirmed that the title refers to Shakespeare's The Merchant of VeniceThe Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
, in which a debtor must pay a pound of flesh. In this case, it amounts to seven gifts to seven individuals deemed worthy by Smith's character, to atone for seven deaths he caused.
Release
Seven Pounds was promoted on a five-city tour across the United States in November 2008, screening in Cleveland, Miami, Dallas, St. Louis, and Denver to raise funds for food banks in each region. The film was promoted at a charity screening in Minneapolis in support of Second Harvest Heartland. Since screenings of new films usually took place in Los Angeles or New York City, the choice of cities was unconventional. Smith said, "This is more like the old-school music tours. Different clubs, different cities, meeting people. You get in touch with what people are feeling and thinking, and it's much more personal when you're actually out shaking hands." The actor sought to "get reacquainted" with an America that he felt had an "openness to change" with the country's electionUnited States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
of Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
as the first African-American president.
The film was released on December 19, 2008 in 2,758 theaters in the United States and Canada. It grossed an estimated $16 million, placing second at the weekend box office after Yes Man
Yes Man (film)
Yes Man is a 2008 comedy film directed by Peyton Reed, written by Nicholas Stoller, Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel and starring Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, John Michael Higgins, Rhys Darby, Maile Flanagan, Danny Masterson, and Terence Stamp...
. The opening gross was the lowest for a film starring Smith since Ali
Ali (film)
Ali is a 2001 American biographical film directed by Michael Mann. The film tells the story of boxing icon Muhammad Ali, played by Will Smith, from 1964 to 1974 featuring his capture as of the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston , his conversion to Islam, criticism of the Vietnam War, banishment...
in 2001. The gross was $5 million less than anticipated, partially ascribed to winter storms in the Northeast
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
over the weekend.
Home media release
Seven Pounds was released on Disc, , and UMD. The movie is available to rent or buy on the PlayStation Network in standard form or in High Definition., sales generated $24,148,973
Critical reception
The film received mostly negative reviews from critics. The film review website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gave the film a rating of 27% based upon a sample of 184 reviews with an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 4.6/10 At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 36 based on 33 reviews.
Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
s film reviewer Todd McCarthy predicted that the movie's climax "will be emotionally devastating for many viewers, perhaps particularly those with serious religious beliefs," and characterized the film as an "endlessly sentimental fable about sacrifice and redemption that aims only at the heart at the expense of the head." A. O. Scott
A. O. Scott
Anthony Oliver Scott, known as A. O. Scott , is an American journalist and critic. He is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with Manohla Dargis.-Background and education:...
, writing for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, said that the movie "may be among the most transcendently, eye-poppingly, call-your-friend-ranting-in-the-middle-of-the-night-just-to-go-over-it-one-more-time crazily awful motion pictures ever made."
Positive reviews singled out Dawson's performance; Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
Richard Nelson Corliss is a writer for Time magazine who focuses on movies, with the occasional article on music or sports. Corliss is the former editor-in-chief of Film Comment...
wrote in Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
that Dawson gives "a lovely performance," while Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle is an American Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] [[film reviewer] and the author of two books on pre-[[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Code]] Hollywood...
of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
noted that Dawson's performance "shows once again that she has it in her to be the powerhouse." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun Times commented on the fact that the audience is kept completely out of the loop as to what Tim is doing, pointing out how he "finds this more interesting than a movie about a man whose nature and objectives are made clear in the first five minutes, in a plot that simply points him straight ahead."