Seven Pounds

I have been wondering what is up with the new Will Smith movie, Seven Pounds, since I saw the first trailer.  

Which Will Smith will we get in this movie?  The happy fun times one from Hitch?  How about the ass-kicker from Independence Day or Bad Boys?  Or is it the serious, heart-string-puller from Pursuit of Happyness?  I don't know.  Kinda looks sadder than that.  This Will Smith looks almost morose, saddened by his very existence.  What's up with that?  I don't really favor this kind of Will Smith.

And what does the Seven Pounds refer to?  I immediately thought of the Shakespearean comedy, The Merchant of Venice, and the pound of flesh that Shylock demands from Antonio.  Or perhaps the pound of flesh John Doe demanded from one of his victims in the movie Se7en?

A web search produces a whole bunch of people wondering the same thing.  What the heck is up with this movie.  Not many answers.  

Some think it might be a baby, some think it refers to the weight of the average human baby.  Neither of those are correct, by the way.  One magazine speculates that the movie is an elaborate way for Will Smith's character to atone for the deaths he caused in a drunk driving accident.

Hmmm.  Happy times.

Any way you slice it, it is interesting, and i am intrigued.