Many Hollywood actors and actresses have had a busy, curvy, irregular career. However, Will Smith seems to be doing well to earn a good biopic, one of those that they say would have been better as a miniseries because it must cover too many things for a movie. Will Smith has been part of our lives for many years and, even with much fewer awards and prestige than Denzel Washington, everyone agrees that he is and has been the greatest and most famous African-American film star.
He went from rap to starring in ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air’, a series that won him over half the world, and then nostalgia. The fact that his character was named after himself helped give him that likeable image off-screen as well. Then came the box office hits, and attempts to become a serious actor like ‘Ali’ or ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’, although the great directors continue to rarely knock on his door. Finally, after years of trying and although ‘The Williams Method’ was a film that, although good, was mediocre and forgettable, he achieved the applause of Hollywood with the Oscar for Best Actor. Before, however, he had destroyed his image of eternal Will from ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ by attacking Chris Rock after a joke about his wife that made him angrily go up to the stage with the largest audience in the world.
But like good movie stars, the punishment was not very long and Smith did not take long to return, no less than with ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’, the fourth installment of one of his most reliable franchises, along with his friend Martin Lawrence. The positive success of this film, and some fans who have never abandoned him (incomprehensibly, his wife received more criticism than he) only invites us to think that we are going to continue hearing more from Will Smith. However, it makes you want to think what would have happened if any of these turns in his career had come at another time. For example, few will deny that Will Smith should have been closer to the Oscar in ‘Ali’, ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ or ‘Seven Souls’ than in ‘The Williams Method’. Perhaps, if he had won the Oscar then, the story (and his mental health) would have been very different.
Both ‘Seven Souls’ and ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ represented a complete change in the image we had of Will Smith. Both are two films directed by Gabriele Muccino, an Italian filmmaker whose filmography is forgettable beyond his duo of works with Will Smith. The Italian dedicated himself, Smith through, to making us cry through the figure that had made us laugh so much and made us smile since the 90s. Perhaps it is because of its more realistic and close plot, perhaps because it is the first, but there is no doubt that ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ and its ending has remained more in the memory.
However, ‘Seven Pounds’ is one of the films that will be leaving Netflix on July 1st and it would be a shame if everyone who hasn’t discovered its story doesn’t discover it in time. Released in 2008, it is a film made for and to thrill, which loses a bit of its meaning, of course, once you have already seen it and discovered its secrets. But discovering it for the first time can be an intense experience, and it would be a sin not to have done so for any Will Smith fan. That’s why we had to remember, just before the last minute, this last opportunity to watch it comfortably on Netflix.
Rafael is an expert in film, series and video games. He is into classic and auteur cinema, although he doesn’t miss Marvel or the current Netflix hit due to professional deformation. He also has a geeky side, as proven by his specialization in anime, k-pop and everything related to Asian culture.
By generation, sometimes he has to write about current musical hits, from Bizarrap to Blackpink. It even has its erotic side, but limited, unfortunately, to selecting the best erotic series and movies. But he doesn’t limit himself there, since he also likes to write about gastronomy, travel, humor and memes.
After 5 years writing for Fotogramas and Esquire, the truth is that he has already done a little bit of everything, from interviews with international stars to mobile phone presentations or tastings of oil, insects and, yes, if he’s lucky, wine.
He trained in Audiovisual Communication at the University of Murcia. She later continued at the Carlos III University of Madrid with a Master’s Degree in Research in Media. In addition to beginning a doctorate on sexual representation in arthouse cinema (which she never finished), she also studied a Master’s degree in film criticism, both at ECAM and at the Writers’ School. Before, he cut his teeth writing on the Cinealacarbonara blog, continued in media such as Amanecemetropolis, Culturamas or Magnolia Magazine, and dedicated all his efforts to Mutaciones Magazine since its foundation.
He arrived at Hearst in 2018 and managed to carve out a niche for himself in the editorial offices of Fotogramas and Esquire, with which he continues to write about everything he likes and what they send him (often coincides). His good or bad taste (depending on how you look at it) also led him to get into the world of gastronomy and video games. Come on, he likes to entertain himself.
