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Yet while Gardner's spirits surprisingly never droop despite his tribulations, the same cannot be said for those watching this noble rags-to-riches drama. Smith's restraint works wonderfully here and he makes every facial flicker count. When his wife Linda (Thandie Newton) leaves him, Gardner takes custody of their five-year-old child (played by Smith's delightful real-life son, Jaden) and then faces a catalogue of disasters as they become homeless and he tries to pursue a new career.
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Through the darkest days The Pursuit Of Happyness chases the faintest rays of light, barely perceptible and only to those with the courage to believe.Īll Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.Will Smith reins in his customary exuberance to deliver a beautifully understated performance as real-life San Francisco father Chris Gardner, who, in the 1980s, battled against astonishing adversity to achieve his American Dream. Not a single joke or sarcastic note betrays Chris Gardner's mood of grim tenacity, and he keeps a straight face even during a late-in-the-day elevator-set verbal poke at a fellow intern. In one of his career best performances, Will Smith again proves his dramatic role capabilities. A what-else exasperation also sets in, as big and small gut punches keep landing (the film compresses Gardner's many real experiences into a shorter time frame). Some scenes could have been cut and sequences of Chris running through the streets of San Francisco to make the bus or next sales appointment become repetitive. The running length creeps towards excessive at just under two hours. Chris acts accordingly, both professionally and personally, never settling and always striving to nourish his spirit with a promise of a better outcome. The drama is lightly narrated by Smith, and his commentary latches on to a thought-provoking and deeply human theme in the Constitutional reference to the pursuit of happiness, rather than the end state itself. Later, Chris has to conjure up an imaginary landscape of dinosaurs to get his son through a tough unsheltered night. And so even a daycare that screens Love Boat for the kids in the name of education about the navy is better than nothing. But Chris never knew his father while growing up, and now wants to be the best dad possible for his son. Young Christopher's "Pursuit of Happyness" daycare in Chinatown is the only one his parents can afford, and the misspelled name hardly inspires confidence. In addition to exploring the travails of the economically insecure, plenty of warmth is derived from Chris' dedication to fatherhood.
The pursuit of happiness movie reviews full#
Celebrating fatherhood and a strong belief in self, director Gabriele Muccino sustains a narrative full of heart-wrenching moments but also love, hope and positive intent, and provides a sympathetic face to homelessness as a sometimes transitory phase. Inspired by the true rags to riches story of Chris Gardner, The Pursuit Of Happyness is an honest against-all-odds, feel-good experience. Father and son run out of money and are eventually homeless, but Chris persists, determined to be the one intern out of 20 to be offered a job.
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But it's an unpaid 6 month stint, which means he still has to hustle to sell the scanners and look after his child. Thanks to his persistent hounding of Dean Witter manager Jay Twistle (Brian Howe), Chris lands the internship. Linda cannot take him seriously and eventually leaves the family.
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His small family consisting of wife Linda (Thandie Newton) and young son Christopher (Jaden Smith) is buckling under the strain of dwindling financial resources.īut Chris is good with numbers and people, and decides to apply for a stockbroker internship position at brokerage firm Dean Witter. Salesman Chris Gardner (Will Smith) has invested all his savings in expensive bone density scanner devices, but is having trouble selling them to doctors in the area. A drama about perseverance in the face of personal hardship, The Pursuit Of Happyness is a well-told inspirational story about a father's sacrifice and determination to turn his life around.