The Pursuit of Happyness

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The Pursuit of Happyness

88% Liked It
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The Pursuit of Happyness

Brian Howe, Dan Castellaneta, David Fine, Jaden Smith, James Karen

Chris Gardner is a bright and talented, but marginally employed salesman. Struggling to make ends meet, Gardner finds himself and his five-year-old son evicted from their San Francisco apartment with ...( read more  read more... )nowhere to go. When Gardner lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, he and his son endure many hardships, including living in shelters, in pursuit of his dream of a better life for the two of them.

Id: 6699616

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The Pursuit of Happyness Recent Reviews
  • SirPant
    September 18, 2009
    SirPant
    Will Smith is an actor who goes from strength to strength in every film he does (Apart from Hitch). I found his son quite annoying though and I can't stand Thandie Newton.
  • thmtsang
    September 4, 2009
    thmtsang
    Based on a true story of a salesman down on his luck, who's wife leaves him because they are broke and out on the street. He does everything he can to provide for his son, even taking anunpaid interinship to create a better life for them. It is sweet as Will is really Jayden's da...( read more)d. The scene in the men's room is heartbreaking. Be ready for teary eyes.
  • Darksome
    June 9, 2009
    Darksome
    Such a great movie, it is truly inspirational.
  • EarthlyAlien
    March 19, 2009
    EarthlyAlien
    "It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is s...( read more)omething that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?"

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    I admit it, I already hated The Pursuit of Happyness before I even watched it. How could I not? A literal rags-to-riches story wrapped in "America, the Land of Opportunity" propaganda about a guy who, despite all odds, with great perseverance and dedication to his son, goes from being strapped to being broke to being homeless to being a very rich stockbroker? Ick. The guy is played by funny, super-adorable Will Smith and the son is played by Will Smith's extra-super-adorable son? Double and triple ick. Stop me if I'm making you nauseous, but going into it, there is absolutely no reason to believe that this will be anything but a syrupy feel-good flick as cute and simple-minded as its misspelled title. Somehow it is and it isn't.

    Expertly paced, intimately shot (courtesy of its Italian director, Gabriele Muccino), cunningly scored and competently acted, The Pursuit of Happyness benefits as much from the inspiring true story it was based on as it suffers from it; the series of hard-luck events that put Chris Gardner and his son on the streets are comical in their relentlessness, while the two's struggles are quite unfunny in their reality. Smith and, er, Smith, not surprisingly, have a solid rapport and embrace their roles believably, but it's Thandie Newton - as the shrewish and slightly unhinged bitch of a wife who instigates their downward spiral - who provides the most animated spark.

    Smith's take on Gardner is numbly stoic: We only see him cry twice; once when happy, once when at a true low point. While the mischievous (and somewhat annoying) glint the actor brings to many of his roles is toned down here, the master-class bullshitting skills that he displays as Gardner are the extent of his "personality." Still, The Pursuit of Happyness - as over-the-top as it seems conceptually - actually deals out its heartstring cards subtly and never comes off as too cloying. It's the sort of feel-good film that doesn't make your teeth hurt.
  • JakeMN
    February 10, 2009
    JakeMN
    A down yet inspiring story. Great performance by the Smiths.
  • Marischa2
    December 16, 2009
    Marischa2
    a sad story but watching this man losing everything and gaining more in the end was a pleasure to watch.
  • hanaroliza
    December 15, 2009
    hanaroliza
    super awesome... i was not able to move on with this film... i was deeply touched with every scenes i saw... it gave me a heartache to see young Gardner lost his toy while his dad grab him to catch the bus. And for the old Gardner, he lost his other pair of shoe because of an une...( read more)xpected accident but he still went to work even if he only had one shoe on. All of the scenes here will move your heart and will make you cry a lot. This film will also teach you to follow your dreams and you need to make some sacrifices not only for yourself but for your love ones as well before you may see its fruit!
  • aeshestella
    December 14, 2009
    aeshestella
    vry influential and inspiring tale of a man who struggles to get his way thru to survive and provide his child the basic necessities of life. he is talented, yet out of work, but thrugh a hard and tough time and courses of event, he finally reaches his destination..the psyche of ...( read more)a little kid and the dad, the relation they share, makes this movie a MAGIC! i simply love it!
  • ElCochran90
    December 12, 2009
    ElCochran90
    Let's see, Muccino:

    You have a remarkable piece of drama material to work on, and the only thing you achieve is Will Smith to adopt a more serious leading role. The issue smells like Jim Carrey with Darabont and Kauffman, but lets move on. You depict life conditions of... not ...( read more)poverty, but economical difficulties, and the characters initiate a voyage in search of "happyness".

    First of all, the title is not the only mispelled aspect of the film. If analyzing the final message leads us to the conclusion that money is the final source of joy, then you belong to the giant pile of Hollywood melodramatic excrement. Moreover, that's not fair! Even the true neorealists of cinema convulsioned in their graves. If you had added religion in the end, I would dare to say it would have worked better, but just slightly.

    THAT is the problem with modern directors who think that the usual stuff concerning poverty, racism, a hostile, underground urban environment and a climatic final transformation in the main character are aspects that assure quality for the genre. Will Hollywood ever learn? We'll notice a change in two decades from now, when the box-office starts to drop at these disappointing projects and audiences finally notice the difference between stories with substance and complete soap operas reduced to a couple of hours per film. Mark my words.

    60/100
  • BasTaI2d
    December 10, 2009
    BasTaI2d
    A very good and touching movie...
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