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Studio:Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Director:Gabriele Muccino

Cast: Kurt Fuller, Dan Castellaneta, James Karen, Will Smith, Brian Howe

Running Time:117 minutes

Product Description

Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Dan Castellaneta, Thandie Newton, Brian HoweDirector: Gabriele Muccino

Amazon.com

A heart-warming film that demonstrates how good, hard-working people can become homeless almost overnight, The Pursuit of Happyness is a tour de force showcase for Will Smith, who convincingly portrays a down and out dad trying to better his family's life. Smith, who is usually cast in effortlessly boyish roles (Men in Black, Independence Day), is wonderful in the film--even in the scenes that shamelessly tug at viewers' heart-strings. Based on the true-life story of Chris Gardner, a San Francisco salesman forced at times to shelter his young son (played by Smith's adorable look-alike offspring Jaden Smith) in a men's room, there is little suspense to the film in terms of Chris's outcome. (His story and eventual success as a prosperous Chicago businessman was well-publicised on the news magazine show 20/20.) And let's face it, Hollywood's not too keen on making feel-good movies with unhappy endings.

The beauty (and suspense, to a certain extent) of The Pursuit of Happyness is in the way the story is told. Though he is constantly rushing around to get to appointments and pick up his child, things do not happen quickly for Chris. When he accepts an internship with a prestigious stock brokerage firm, there's a catch: The position is unpaid, suitable more for trust-fund children than single parents with no other source of income. In many scenes, the viewer panics along with Chris, wondering how he's going to feed his child. While Smith and his son, Jaden, share many tender moments together, Thandie Newton (Crash) has the thankless role of playing Chris' shrill wife, who deserts her family early in the film. It's not a particularly challenging part for the talented actress, and her departure doesn't impact much on the storyline. As for the film's mis-spelled title, it's inspired by a scene early in the film. (Seeing a mural drawn by the children at a daycare center, Chris points out to the proprietor that "happiness" is spelled incorrectly. She notes that it doesn't matter how the word is written--just that the kids have it.) With The Pursuit of Happyness, Smith has come out of his safety zone and, in turn, ends up playing his most heroic role to date. --Jae-Ha Kim

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