Review of The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) by Stevenf — 27 May 2013

The film is always in the pursuit of great things, and we are always tasked with feeling depressed or emotional when the story unfolds, and lead character Will Smith and his real life son Jaden give is so many reasons to feel this way after watching The Pursuit of Happyness.

Based on a true story, Smith plays Chris Gardner, a smart and traditional family man, but also a down on his luck individual who is late with his rent, his childcare payments and and must fund these essentials through the sale of bone density scanners, a luxurious spin on X-ray machines, and that exact point is just what makes these things so hard to sell, a pointless luxury.

As Chris is tempted by the perks of being a stockbroker in the 1980s, his wife Linda (Thandie Newton) has had enough of Chris' lack of deliverance on the family front, and decides enough is enough. The punch here, however, is that Chris is desperately trying to provide for his family, he just doesn't know how.

When Chris decides to pursue the stockbroker prospect, he gets accepted onto an unpaid internship lasting six months. As Chris delegates over what his future prospects are, he must think about the present, and of course his son.

Will Smith delivers an awe-inspiring performance as the unlucky man in San Francisco, we see his anger, frustration but love for his son all at play, and he must put up with many people he simply don't understand. Smith's son Jaden also performs brilliantly in his debut performance as Chris' son Christopher, he's just a kid who wants to have a normal life, but also seems to understand what his father is going through, and shows flashes of his dad's intelligence which creates a wonderful father/son dynamic, even when a night spent in a public toilet just for warmth brings them closer than ever.

But what has been sacrificed in an otherwise flawless film is the notion that even if the real story of Chris Gardner isn't familiar to the viewer, there is rarely a downbeat moment where we believe there isn't going to be a happy ending, the constant talk of happiness and how it may be misinterpreted are giveaways throughout the film, leading to a predictable, but still satisfying ending.

A touching and happy story is told, with inspired performances from Will and Jaden Smith that works on the father and son dynamic of being a team and always sticking around for each other.