X-factor in the best-actor race

December 04, 2008 Like Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition, no one expects them -- until they're inevitable. Smith's role in the Sony film, as an IRS functionary who mysteriously drops into the lives of strangers in an apparent bid to help them, comes in a movie steeped in melancholy. While awards pundits this year have followed the tradition of priming the pump for movies even before they began screening, "Seven Pounds" has until now largely flown below blogger radars.

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