The Pursuit of Happyness Review

The pursuit of Happiness (or, indeed, Happyness) implies an absence of Happiness in the first place and that's certainly the case with Will Smith's latest drama, which frequently threatens to become a miseryfest of Biblical proportions. Based on a true story, the film is set in 1970s San Francisco. Smith plays Chris Gardener, a medical equipment salesman struggling to provide for his five-year-old son, Christopher (Smith's real-life son, Jaden Smith) and his unhappy wife, Linda (Thandie Newton). When his wife leaves him, Chris decides that something has to change and he manages to land an unpaid internship as a stockbroker. And then the bad luck REALLY starts: he's hit by a car on the way to work, arrested for unpaid parking tickets, evicted for non-payment of rent, his medical equipment gets stolen, his boss (Dan Castellaneta) starts to treat him like an errand boy and he keeps turning up to work in various states of undress. Will he triumph over adversity? Well, there wouldn't be much of a movie if he didn't, would there?

The naturally charismatic, always watchable Smith is terrific in the lead and his performance could easily net him an Oscar nomination come February. Similarly, his on-screen bond with Jaden Smith is genuinely moving and it doesn't hurt that the kid seems to have inherited his father's acting abilities. Although some of the heart-breaking mishaps that befall Chris are hard to believe, director Gabriele Muccino is careful to include the odd moment of humour, such as Chris getting his first real break by demonstrating his skills with a Rubik's Cube. In short, this is a superbly acted, ultimately uplifting drama that packs a powerful emotional punch.