The mullet-headed morality drama "Seven Pounds" begins with Will Smith in a state of crisis, calling 911 to report a suicide -- his own.

How director Gabriele Muccino, who guided Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness," gets to that state of crisis is a jumble of disconnected scenes, flashing forward and back in the timeline, keeping the audience in the dark about what Smith's character is doing.

Here's what we learn early on: Smith's character, going by the name of Ben Thomas, is troubled by some past tragedy involving his girlfriend (Robinne Lee), whom we see in flashbacks. Thomas uses his credentials as an IRS agent, and some connections, to dig up private information on several people. These include a blind pianist (Woody Harrelson), a mother of two (Elpidia Carrillo) being beaten by her boyfriend, and an artist (Rosario Dawson) with a congenital heart defect. Thomas is driven by guilt and determined to see through his plan, in spite of the reservations of his lawyer (Barry Pepper) and his brother (Michael Ealy).

As Muccino and first-time screenwriter Grant Nieporte move in herky-jerky fashion toward a heavy-handed (and, in one particular, unintentionally ridiculous) resolution, there are small moments of warmth along the way. Most of these moments come in the tender scenes between Smith and Dawson, whose chemistry makes you want to put them in a less ponderous movie.

Without divulging the movie's central secret, "Seven Pounds" wants to open thought-provoking questions about life and death, personal responsibility and personal sacrifice. But in execution, the questions answer themselves -- always in the affirmative -- because we're accustomed to believe Will Smith, a movie star whose screen appeal is based on his sincerity, is always doing the right thing.

Is Smith's character doing the right thing? The audience never gets a chance to ask, because Muccino's glossy but opaque direction withholds the crucial information we would need to judge Thomas' actions for ourselves. When it comes to having the courage to trust the audience, Muccino proves he's as spineless as a jellyfish.

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