Snitch

First Hit:  That Dwayne Johnson didn’t break out into a fist fight and violent rage added to this films intrigue.

Johnson  has shown in numerous films he has some range. Here, because of this size and build, I expected him to beat the crap out of his antagonists, but he didn’t.

Playing John Mathews in this film as a once divorced father of two children. His son Jason Collins (Rafi Gavron), by his first wife, gets into trouble and his integrity won’t let him rat out someone else for a lighter prison term. Seeing his son beaten from an altercation while in prison, Mathews decides to assist the government’s prosecutor Joanne Keeghan (played by Susan Sarandon) catch a bigger fish so that he can get his son’s sentence reduced.

To do this he befriends Daniel James (played by Jon Bernthal), an employee who has a felony history. Through this connection he finds himself in the think of a drug deal. How he decides to make the deal work for everyone requires him to create his own plan to save his family.

Johnson does a really good job of not using his size and bulk to make the role work; he uses his head and heart to make his character real enough. Gavron does a very good job of being the forgotten son that also wants to do right. Sarandon is OK as the prosecutor. Bernthal is really good as the guy who’s trying to do right for his family. Barry Pepper is wonderful and powerful as a federal agent. Melinda Kanakaredes is almost a bit over dramatic as Johnson’s first wife. Justin Haythe and Ric Roman Waugh wrote a fairly strong script from what based as a true story. Waugh also directed this film and generally it was well paced.

Overall:  Entertaining and shows Johnson’s willingness to continue to grow as an actor.

Seven Pounds

First Hit: Initially I struggled to get into the flow of the film, but in the end it was very satisfying and touches on an interesting subject.

Will Smith has played comedic and dramatic parts and he is showing himself to be very capable at both. In this film Smith plays Ben Thomas as an IRS Investigator, or is he.

Right at the beginning his behavior is unlike any investigator I’ve ever come across (yes I’ve met a couple). But as he investigates people, he truly learns about these people and if they're living of an honest true life. He grants people payment favors if possible and sticks it to others who are lying to him.

Interspersed with the flow of the story are haphazard scenes of him with his wife, his old home, and an accident. The flash backs and story line are choppy and keep one off course, but when the film hits the ¾ mark it starts to clear itself up. Ben has some great scenes with Rosario Dawson (as Emily), Woody Harrelson (as Ezra) and Barry Pepper (as Dan).

Additional scenes with Elpidia Carrillo and Joe Nunez were wonderfully dramatic and very funny respectively.

Will Smith is excellent at showing deep conflicted emotions which are required in this part. Rosario Dawson is wonderful as a woman who, besides having tax issues, has a congenital heart problem and may die. Direction by Gabriele Muccino was less than stellar because the scenes weren’t craftily mixed up, they were confusingly mixed up. As I started to get into the flow of what this film was attempting to do, more than half the film had passed. I think the mystery could have been concealed in a different way.

Overall: Once passed the halfway mark the film starts to get traction and became more engaging and interesting. At the end I felt justified for sitting there for 118 minutes.