Title: Seven Pounds
Directed By: Gabriele MuccinoCertificate: 12A

Cast: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, Barry PepperSynopsis:  In Seven Pounds Will Smith reunites with director Gabriele Muccino of The Pursuit of Happiness, in a heart-wrenching story of redemption.   Will Smith stars as a man who sets out to change the lives of seven strangers.  Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, and Barry Pepper also star. The film was released in theaters in the United States and Canada on December 19, 2008 due to be screened in the UK on 16th January 2009.

The movie starts out with the main character, Ben Thomas (Will Smith), making a 911 call to report a suicide.  When dispatch asks who the victim is, Ben responds, “I am.” Then goes through a series of flashback stories to show how he got to that point.

Ben Thomas is an IRS agent with a mysterious past that weighs heavy on his shoulders.  When Ben’s wife is tragically killed in an accident he struggles to cope with the loss, taking a turn down a dark path.  Having sunk into deep depression and feelings of guilt, he feels the need to make amends for his past mistakes and resolves to help seven other vulnerable people - strangers struggling under the weight of everything from poverty to ill-health.  The challenge he set was originally designed to make himself feel a bit better, but what Ben never imagined was that it could re-awaken his will to live.  An emotional film to tug at your heart-strings.

Here is Will Smith & Rosario Dawson’s interview of Seven Pounds on the Oprah Winfrey show.