The Pursuit of Happyness

Based on a true story, The Pursuit of Happyness takes place in 1981 and follows the struggling career path of Chris Gardner as he fights to provide for his son, Christopher. Chris is a relatively unsuccessful salesman for a company that makes portable bone-density scanners, a machine of no real economic value. His marriage is falling apart because both he and his wife are too busy to spend time with each other. Finally, when things seem to have hit rock bottom, Chris decides to apply for an internship at a stock brokerage firm. This is when “rock bottom” becomes “bottomless” as Chris is hit with an amazing string of bad luck. Never giving up, he makes the most of what he has in order to take care of Christopher. As Gardner, Will Smith gives easily the greatest performance of his career. The audience is with him every step of the way and Smith balances a fine act of being charming in some scenes and utterly heartbreaking in others. As the young Christopher, newcomer Jaden Smith (Will’s real-life son) is also wonderfully touching. His scenes with his father feel authentic, and never overtly maudlin or forced. There are a few flaws here and there. For instance, the voice-over narration becomes increasingly frustrating due to its insistence on spelling out the obvious and never giving viewers the credit to figure things out on their own. Also, there are just a few too many scenes of Gardner running about the city, chasing down misplaced portable scanners. That aside, the movie offers a beautiful and inspiring story about one man’s perseverance and determination to succeed against all odds.

Directed by Gabriele Muccino.
Written by Steve Conrad.
Starring Will Smith, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, Thandie Newton, Brian Howe, Dan Castellaneta and Kurt Fuller.

Rated PG-13 for some language. 117 min.

**** so says The Fish