Definitely rent this movie!!! This movie really caught my attention and emotions from the opening scene. "It took God Seven Days to Create the World and me seven seconds to destroy mine." Seven strangers lives were forever changed by Ben Thomas, the man who assumes the identify of his brother, an IRS agent, to meet these people. The first time I watched the movie I had no idea how the plot was coming together, in fact it took me almost to the end of the movie to understand the full realm of torment that this man had been living for two years. The movie brings the audience close-up and personal to people suffering with major medical conditions and brings out the compassion for anyone confronting life day to day with the thought of death right around the corner. Made me re-evaluate my own life and how I should be focusing on helping others instead of me #1.

I went with some insight into the plot from the trailer and the title which comes from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice where a debt that cannot be paid is determined to be worth a pound of flesh. But it takes time for the audience to realize the significance of seven pounds. And the IRS? who could be better at collecting debts? My advice is to GO with an open mind - take 1 tissue - get a cold drink and some hot popcorn and just WATCH without trying to understand too much initially. Starting out we are given very little insight into the character or the motivation for his actions. The movie slowly develops and you will enjoy Will Smith's performance as a victim of severe mental depression and anxiety. The surprising ending is at once extremely sad and very uplifting. Woody Harrelson gives a fine performance as a blind man. I left the movie thinking about my own abundant life, my actions, my decisions, and respect for other people. So for that reason I recommend 7 lbs.

This is a great movie -- if, that is, you don't read one of the reviews below, by user Whammo, that gives away the plot. His or her review greatly diminished my enjoyment of the movie by revealing the central plot. The whole story was obvious to me about 15 minutes into the movie. Otherwise, ti would have had a great surprise ending.

WIll Smith sends you on a roller coaster then captures your heart and then rips it apart. The movie developed in a strange way and was really slow in the beginning. You don't know where the story line is headed nor can you distinguish which scenes are in proper sequential order. However, 30 to 40 minutes into the movie you will get a "ding" in your head and the movie becomes strangely an emotional adventure. By the end I couldn't leave I had cried so much. I am glad I didn't wait to Saturday to take my 13 year old - this is definitiely an adult movie because of the complex emotional scenes (not sex, language or violence strangely). As you watch Will Smith's face - the emotions , the moods you love him -- he is one of the best actors today and his work is memorable to classic. GIve him an oscar for this one

It's amazing how times have changed. On Christmas Eve, I enjoyed watching It's a Wonderful Life. The purpose of this movie was to show how our lives touch others', and how we're ALL worth more alive than dead i.e. focus on the good things in life because they far outweigh the bad. Fastforward to Christmas 2008, and the purpose of 7 pounds is to show us that a person's death can be worth more than his life, that by dying one can help others more so than living, and it's ok to commit suicide to solve one's problems. I didn't like this movie. If it's a sign of the times, then it's sad. Ben is not a hero. A hero is a person who can cope with life, overcome adversity and move on. He obviously needed help (psychological) to overcome his guilt and killing oneself is not an acceptable way to do that. And what about his best friend??? If my best friend came to me with such a plan, I would've had him committed to the hospital the next day. What was the purpose of this movie??