It’s been more than three years since we last saw Will Smith up on the big screen.

That’s an eternity for actors in their prime, let alone arguably the biggest movie star on the planet.

Smith was riding a gaudy career streak up until recently. Hits like “Hancock,” “Hitch,” “Men in Black II,” “I, Robot,” “I am Legend” and “Bad Boys II” all proved his box office prowess was no special effect. Perhaps the biggest test of his audience goodwill came with the 2006 smash “The Pursuit of Happyness.” That film couldn’t fall back on car crashes or existing material to draw a crowd. It was all on Smith, and he delivered.

Then along came “Seven Pounds,” and it felt like everything changed for the erstwhile Fresh Prince.

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In September of 2001, I found myself employed at a theater in Los Angeles playing the part of Ben Franklin in the musical “1776.” The show is about the signing of the Declaration of Independence: an entertaining history lesson that concludes with all the bells in Philadelphia ringing and the actors freezing in a tableau recreating the famous painting of the original signers. It stirs up feelings of patriotism in the hearts of all but the most America-hating of theater goers.

As luck would have it, the first week of the show’s run concluded on Sunday September 10th. The next morning, I slept in, then awoke to find an answering machine message from my wife, who’d driven off to a breakfast date. “Turn on the TV,” her breathless voice said. “New York City has been bombed.” I spent the rest of the day, like most of the country, glued to my set, unable to believe what I was seeing or hearing. (more…)