The Pursuit of Happyness

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Drama

To call “The Pursuit of Happyness” a sad movie would be oversimplifying things. This film based on the book of the same title was the autobiography of Chris Gardner. Gardner is a self-made millionaire, entrepreneur, and motivational speaker, but you wouldn’t know that when you begin watching this film. If you’re expecting a movie where Will Smith makes tons of wisecracks and uses a big gun, you’re watching the wrong film. Smith has been stretching his acting muscles recently, proof of which can be seen in works like “Ali” and “The Legend of Bagger Vance”, but “Happyness” proves to be his toughest acting challenge yet.

Chris Gardner is down-on-his-luck. He’s a salesman who is trying to recoup money he invested in purchasing bone density scanners to re-sell them to medical professionals. Chris and wife Linda (Thandie Newton) are raising a son, Christopher (Smith’s real son Jaden Smith), and are barely making ends meet. When Chris tries to switch careers and explore being a stock broker, Linda leaves him. Down to his last few dollars, Chris has to muster all of his courage, effort and intelligence to make life bearable for his young son, even if he has to live off welfare to do it. But will all his sacrifices pay off in the end?

This is not a light movie by any means. In fact, it can get downright depressing by the middle of the film. As Jo’s dad told us, Smith’s Gardner is almost like local action hero Fernando Poe, Jr.: he gets beaten up throughout a film before rising up and winning in the end. Smith already proved he had acting chops before, but he really makes you feel the pain and the unbelievable bad luck that happens to Gardner. It is heartbreaking to watch Gardner and son suffer through eviction from their home, to having his money taken by the IRS, to sleeping in a bathroom. I found myself wondering how much worse life could get for this father and son.

Will Smith really immerses himself in his role as the struggling Chris Gardner. It becomes a true test of his character to not just break down and give up completely on the cards dealt to him. Thandie Newton as Linda isn’t a one-dimensional caricature here either. Removing her real-life Australian accent, Newton looks and feels like life has beaten her up so much that the only option left for her is to walk out on Chris and Christopher. Though it would be a stretch to say Jaden Smith acted well in this film, the young man does well for himself whenever onscreen. Credit his acting genes from dad Will and mom Jada Pinkett for acting coming naturally to him.

I’m not going to sugarcoat things and say you’re going to have a smile on your face throughout this film. Though the real Chris Gardner finally did turn things around and make good, the film seems to take forever to get to his happy place. By the way, the title is spelled that way because a sign outside young Christopher’s daycare center is spelled wrongly. Yes, Gardner’s struggle and story is inspirational. There is no doubt that a smaller man would never have made it through those trials. Credit should be given to him for seeing the light at the end of an unbelievably long tunnel and never wavering in his pursuit of that light. Credit should also be given to Smith for giving a more than credible performance here.

Now forgive me as I look for an episode of “Frasier” on DVD to lift my spirits back up.