The Pursuit of Happyness (on DVD)

2006’s The Pursuit of Happyness is wonderfully acted by Will Smith; for once he puts away his star persona and immerses himself in the character. In the movie, Smith plays a real life character Chris Gardner, even though the script mainly just keeps Gardner’s name and the basic form of his life trajectory while drastically changes the events in his life. Smith’s Gardner is a struggling salesman on the verge of financial ruin. On top of his money trouble, his wife leaves him and he insists on taking care of their five-year-old son, Christopher (played by Smith’s son Jaden). In order to have a better life and in the pursuit of happiness, Smith takes on a no-pay six month internship at a brokerage firm and hopes to become the only one standing at the end of internship. The ending is no surprise here and it is actually a good thing that the movie is predictable in that sense, because otherwise all the hardships that Gardner and his son have to endure will be simply too hard to watch. Writer Steve Conrad breaks down the film in perfect little segments and director Gabriele Muccino keeps our heart strings tucked by these two main characters at all time. Muccino directed 2001’s Italian movie The Last Kiss which was remade by American filmmakers last year. As in The Last Kiss, Muccino concentrates on characters’ emotions and has a knack for knowing how to have the audience forget themselves in these characters’ lives. He is one of rare foreign directors who is lured by Hollywood and end up directing a studio production even superior to his prior work in his native countries. The movie has a very authentic late 70s/early 80s feel – the Rubik’s cube craze sweeping the country and kids’ action figures with real clothes. Christopher goes to a day care in Chinatown and in Gardner’s apartment hangs a Chinese calendar that Chinese merchants like to give to their customers during holiday time. All these small details prove that Muccino and Conrad are meticulous with their research and they help pull the audience even closer to these characters. There is one minor flaw in the movie. As a five-year-old, Christopher is too well-behaved for my liking. I wish we could witness some temper tantrum from this little kid, but he is just too cute and too understanding to misbehave.

In the end, Gardner’s perseverance and hard work pay off and he realizes his American dream, but what shakes me even more about this movie is the long lines for homeless shelters and many of them may never rise above poverty. While I am happy for Gardner’s success, I cannot forget those unfortunate people at the bottom.