WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Snowed Out

Box office geeks everywhere were very curious to see how this weekend would play out. It isn’t often that two giant stars open movies the same weekend. Only one can debut on top and no one wants to take the runner-up spot. In the end though, it would appear that Mother Nature was the big winner this weekend. With most of the eastern portion of North America covered in snow, the big showdown between Jim Carrey and Will Smith got lost in the blizzard. In fact, the only casualty the weather can’t be blamed for is the steep 66% drop of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. That’s merely a reflection of how bad it is.


Carrey’s YES MAN actually came out on top, but just barely. Smith’s SEVEN POUNDS actually took in a higher per screen average, signaling that there was a higher demand for his film. Still, YES MAN had a higher theatre count and solid average, allowing it to pull ahead with $18 million over the $16 million take for SEVEN POUNDS. I never thought there was any reason to believe Smith would come out on top. I realize he is the world’s biggest box office draw but SEVEN POUNDS is a downer and it is Christmas after all. Sure, THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS was a downer that came out around the same time too but that one was actually good. SEVEN POUNDS meanwhile, is actually making some critic’s year end worst lists. So finally, yes it is to YES MAN.


Squeaking into third place is the little mouse that isn’t afraid of anything (except Smith and Carrey as it turns out), THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX. Audiences practically ignored this family film but business could pick up in the weeks ahead with the holidays just around the corner. Still, it is off to a very slow start and has no critical praise to encourage parents to bother.


Every major awards contender vying for art house supremacy continued to impress on the smaller stages of America. DOUBT and GRAN TURINO each built on last week’s totals as they expanded but there are two other titles that need singling out this week. The first is the latest by Darren Aronofsky, THE WRESTLER. The film itself isn’t getting much awards recognition but performances by Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei are being talked up around the country – or at least they are in and around the four cinemas where the film opened this weekend. THE WRESTLER wrestled up nearly $300K on four screens for an average of over $52K per screen. And for the first time since its release six weeks ago, the unexpected front runner in the Best Picture Oscar race, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, has finally made it to the Top 10. In its widest expansion to date, Fox Searchlight added 420 screens and saw its returns improve nearly 45%. The inevitably impressive word of mouth that will be generated from these showings will certainly only catapult Danny Boyle’s film to even more unexpected heights in the weeks to come. I smell a crossover!

Or is that just my turkey in the over? Hmmm …


NEXT WEEK: What isn’t coming out next week? Aside from wide expansions for DOUBT, GRAN TURINO and FROST/NIXON, and the soft release of the Kate & Leo reunion, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, Hollywood will unleash five mammoth releases on the Christmas public. For the families, there is the Adam Sandler comedy, BEDTIME STORIES. For the couples, you’ve got Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston in MARLEY & ME. For the comic book crowd, Frank Miller makes his formal directorial debut with THE SPIRIT. For the award geeks, David Fincher’s buzz heavy, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON finally hits. And for, actually, I’m not sure who this one is for, but Tom Cruise also returns with VALKYRIE. People like seeing WWII movies with bad acting and eye patches on Christmas, right?

SEVEN POUNDS

Written by Grant Nieporte
Directed by Gabriele Muccino
Starring Will Smith, Rosario Dawson and Woody Harrelson


Ben Thomas: In seven days, God created the world and in seven seconds, I shattered mine.”

As a film critic, writer, enthusiast, what have you, I always find it somewhat tricky to write about a film that goes through such painstaking measures in its marketing campaign to keep its plot ambiguous. I can never figure out how to talk about the film while somehow not really talking about the film at all. This is because I hate giving things away and apparently, so does director, Gabriele Muccino. For the first half of the Italian director’s latest Hollywood offering, SEVEN POUNDS, he drags his heels in the dirt, desperately concealing the plot in some failed attempt at being unconventional. For audiences who have been teased long enough with the trailer, being taunted once they’ve already paid for the answers will not go over well. There is a difference between natural intrigue and playing dramatic mind games with the viewer, intentional or not. When it comes to secrets, the important ones are kept without anyone knowing they even exist. Muccino almost seems to be having too much twisted fun dangling this seven pound carrot in my face. And by the time he gives you a bite, you’re not hungry anymore.


After successfully pairing with star, Will Smith, two years ago with THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS, Muccino goes for a second round. Muccino works very well with Smith, pulling hard, internal emotions out of one of the most accessible stars in Hollywood history. Smith knows this and it was no surprise to hear they were reteaming. It would seem that Smith makes most of his film decisions these days by choosing characters that are challenging and complicated. I commend him for this and think that, for the most part, he is successful in his evndeavors. However, Smith cannot completely control how his performance ends up shaping the films he is in. In SEVEN POUNDS, Smith gives a range of emotions – from angry and bitter to gracious and generous. He is always convincing but Muccino takes Smith’s performance and breaks it into so many non-sequential pieces that the energy needed to piece them all together leaves no energy left over to appreciate the whole.


SEVEN POUNDS does have one saving grace though and her name is Rosario Dawson. Dawson plays Emily Posa, a young woman with a heart condition and very little time left to live. She also owes an obscene amount of money to the American government. In steps Smith as Ben Thomas, an I.R.S. representative who seems more concerned with Emily’s health issues than her back taxes. Inexplicably, they begin to spend significant time with each other. By the time this happens in the film, you can pretty much figure out what all the fuss is about but their interaction is so intriguing that it becomes a very welcome distraction. Their time together is oddly intriguing. They are drawn to each other and have a surprisingly simple ability to make each other laugh but you can tell that they are both dealing with very heavy struggles that limit their possibilities, both individually and together. It is a testament to healing capacity of the ever elusive emotion known as love.


The fragile love shared between Smith and Dawson proves ultimately to be another disappointing element of SEVEN POUNDS. It is so endearing that you wish the film had spent more of its focus there. Instead, it tries to play with you right up until the very end. If I am to be toyed with for such an extended period of time, I expect a pretty big payoff when I get what I’m due. Only the big reveal in SEVEN POUNDS serves solely to expose how conventional it truly is and how it wants to be heavy but is essentially as light as its namesake.