DO you want to know a secret? Huddle closer, so no one else can hear.

Will Smith's perplexing new film, a meditation on life and death which reunites him with director Gabriele Muccino (The Pursuit Of Happyness) and conceals a hush-hush final reel revelation, is a monumental tease.

The twist, which brings clarity to the intentionally fractured narrative, is blindingly obvious from the pedestrian, opening 15 minutes.

So obvious, you spend the rest of Seven Pounds convinced that first-time feature-film screenwriter Grant Nieporte must have an ace concealed up his sleeve to justify all of the subterfuge and ambiguity. Sadly, what you see is what you get with Muccino's emotionally manipulative film, and what you get is a terribly earnest tale of self-sacrifice and redemption, which affixes a makeshift halo to Smith, casting him as a broken man with a secret who seeks absolution in the most ridiculous way imaginable.

We can't discuss the ending without spoiling the moral conundrum for the few audience members who might not see what is staring them in the face.

Be assured, it's overblown and unintentionally funny, milking crocodile tears from half the supporting characters.

"In seven days, God created the world. In seven seconds, I shattered mine," narrates IRS tax collector Ben Thomas (Smith) in voiceover, shortly after we see him dial 911 to report his own suicide.