The Pursuit of Happyness

Reviewed by:
Pete Hammond

A wonderful new film that reminds you what the American Dream is all about, this is the mostly true story of Chris Gardner (Will Smith), a near-homeless single father trying to make a better life while retaining custody of his six-year-old son (played by Smith's real life son, Jaden). A simple tale of survival, Gardner finds himself living by night in church shelters and subway bathrooms with his kid after his wife abandons them. By day he wins a six-month non-paying stockbroker apprenticeship at Dean Witter where only one out of 30 interns will actually be offered the job. A story of struggle, The Pursuit of Happyness (not a typo—it's the way the word was spelled outside his son's day care school) offers Smith his best screen role ever, and he runs with it. He's flat-out great. The producers did make some significant changes in order to enhance the tale and get the "feeling" of his life across. Fabrications aside, you will love this film. It's a story that reinforces the notion that America is truly a land of opportunity for anyone who wants it, ironically including the film's Italian director Gabriele Muccino in this his first English-language feature.

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