The Pursuit of Happyness

Review:

The Bottom Line

Will Smith has banked a lot of goodwill with moviegoers and he's going to need to cash some in with his starring role in the depressing drama, The Pursuit of Happyness. Pursuit is a movie designed to have you reaching for your tissues, but unfortunately it's so overwrought, heavy-handed and into bashing the audience over the head with its message that the emotional impact is dramatically lessened as each minute of the running time slowly ticks by.

The Story

Based on true events, The Pursuit of Happyness (the incorrect spelling is explained in the film) follows Chris Gardner (Smith) as he struggles to achieve the American dream. Chris has everything going against him. His wife (Thandie Newton) left him and he's raising his 5-year-old son alone, without any real income. Determined to provide for his son Christopher (Jaden Smith) no matter what, Chris enters an unpaid internship program at a brokerage firm in hopes of landing the one paid position available at the end of the training program.

Sleeping in bathrooms, homeless shelters, and shabby hotels when he's got the money to afford a room, Chris never gives up on the idea he can land a job and provide his son with a better life. Will Chris be able to grab the brass ring? Will his son be raised in an environment of love? If you watched the 20/20 special on the real Gardner, you know exactly how this story turns out.

To Sum It Up

If Jaden Christopher Syre Smith didn't turn in such a terrific performance, the cries of nepotism might overwhelm anything else to do with the release of The Pursuit of Happyness. However the younger Smith inherited talent from his parents and so he actually deserved the big break. That said, there are too many scenes in The Pursuit of Happyness that feel as though they're included in the film just to show off the close relationship between dad and son. Anyone arguing the need for an overabundance of scenes between the two because The Pursuit of Happyness is based on real events is assuming the story faithfully follows reality. It doesn't. Chris Gardner's real son was only two at the time of the events portrayed in the film.

If patience isn't a virtue you possess, pass on Pursuit of Happyness. The film takes forever to get going yet once it's underway, it doesn't seem to ever want to stop.

Watch Online