REEL CRITIC:

“Seven Pounds” is a movie that defies normal Hollywood categories. It features one of our biggest box-office stars in Will Smith. But this time around, he takes his fans into uncharted territory with a complex performance in a mysterious plot that does not fully resolve its purpose until the final frames.

The story starts with Smith playing an IRS agent who investigates people making claims of severe illness or disabilities that prevent them from paying their taxes. He explores each person’s life to determine the validity of his or her claim. He develops differing relationships with each person and alters his approach to their situation in strange ways.

Rosario Dawson is outstanding as one of his conflicted taxpayers with a fatal disease. She provides a reluctant love interest who tries to understand what is really going on. Woody Harrelson plays a blind man trying to make a basic living. Added to the mix are flashbacks of a terrible traffic accident with unclear implications. Only at the end do we discover the reasons behind all the previous unexplained actions. It’s not holiday fare for kids. But it’s a worthwhile effort that will appeal to some thoughtful adults.

Codger follows typical plot, with good depth

Clint Eastwood is back in top form, directing- and acting-wise, in the bittersweet “Gran Torino.”

Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, a newly widowed codger with scarcely a kind thought for anyone except his dog. A cross between a Dirty Harry and Archie Bunker, Walt constantly growls at the world from his front porch, flinging racial epithets like they were beer nuts. Those who are easily offended should be forewarned.

“Gran Torino” isn’t highly original: When a Hmong family moves in next door, you just know that Walt will eventually be won over by the feisty Sue (the excellent Ahney Her) and take a fatherly attitude toward her underachieving brother Thao (Bee Vang, also terrific). What is surprising is the depth of the characters and emotion. Eastwood is a master of the “less is more” school of acting, and he renders a beautifully modulated performance from himself and the other actors without dipping into obvious sentimentality.

Eastwood’s elegant skills make us somehow come to like Walt, warts and all, and respect him for being an upfront, if emotionally stilted, type of guy. If he’d lavished half the attention on his beloved car (hence the title) as he did on his family, his life might have been so different.

Following in the tradition of “Million Dollar Baby,” “Gran Torino” is a film about forgiveness, redemption and hope that will linger in your head and heart.

JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office. SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a financial services company.