I Loved This Movie! (The Pursuit of Happyness)

TheCentralScrutinizer · 31 Dec 06 :: 08:23

Dave and I saw it today...

The San Diego Union-Tribune

AT THE MOVIES

There's nothing trivial about 'Pursuit,' a feel-good film with real heart

By David Elliott
MOVIE CRITIC

December 14, 2006

'The Pursuit of Happyness" is "inspired by a true story" and is, lo and behold, actually inspiring. One suspects that Thomas Jefferson, quoted in the movie, would have savored it.

Jefferson's Declaration of Independence words about happiness keep recurring to Chris Gardner (Will Smith). In the story Chris must, to find happiness, endure quite a pursuit.

Set in the early 1980s as the Reagan boom cooks, Steve Conrad's script is based on the actual Chris Gardner. He is a bright guy starting to feel some age, with limited prospects – he sells bone-scanning equipment to doctors but is often rejected, and before the movie's end we hate the boxed machine as if it were a hound of fate.

Chris sees a bunch of suits, mostly male, pouring out of the Dean Witter Reynolds brokerage firm (now Morgan Stanley) in downtown San Francisco. He thinks they look "happy," and wonders: Why not me? He does have an adorable boy, Christopher, but wife Linda is becoming a scarecrow of overworked anxiety – Thandie Newton has the thankless role, sulking and snapping.

They drop Christopher into a day care nest in Chinatown, and the cheapness of the place is one of many abrasions that finally drive Linda away. The rest of the story features father-son bonding, very effective because it's almost never pushed cloyingly, and because Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, Will's son, fits like a kid glove.

Chris gambles, schmoozing his way into the trainee program for aspiring brokers at Dean Witter. But he can only survive the long tryout (unpaid in the film; the actual Chris got a small stipend) by selling the damn machines, which rarely sell. Now he's a solo parent, and his son misses mom and the apartment Chris couldn't pay for, and none of the chirpy suits at Dean Witter realize that brisk, affable Chris is scraping by on nerve and small change.

He has a Chaplin aspect, prone to bad luck and some bad choices. Italian director Gabriele Muccino gets some charm from bits like the Rubik's Cube, the lost shoe, even the furious cab driver, but nothing softens the pain of being down to $12.44 or living in a shelter. At rock bottom, Chris enlists his son's childish imagination to patch their spirits together.

For all its beauty, San Francisco can be as cold as any city for down-and-outers. Though the city tenderizes the story a little, we can feel the strain of Chris climbing the tall hills, and the pain of pitching accounts on the phone while wondering how to house and feed his son (the racial aspect is barely felt, though one suit treats Chris like new help at the mansion).

An endearing guy like Chris should, by the odds, have more friends or relatives as backup. But the story has firm human strength, partly because Smith shows credible weakness when he must. Always good in comedy, he became a truly significant actor with "Ali," and this wonderfully subtle, engaging but never drippy performance again deepens his range and appeal.

Tragedy is no option here, despite some vapors of it, and though the ending is expected it's also quite moving. This is one of the few American movies to deal with how people live and survive. It admires smart brokers but also feels for the many people down below, and we know that Chris will not claim his "happyness" by becoming a cold fish in a glass office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I cried like a baby at the end and the crowd applauded.

Deb

TeeJay · 31 Dec 06 :: 11:29

Just went to the official site and read some and looked at the trailer. Sounds great. German release date January 18. If it's on in English (and it damn well better be!), I'll be there to watch it. Thanks for posting!

-TeeJay

domesticelefant · 31 Dec 06 :: 12:09

Why do great movies only come to the cinemas here when I am out of money?

TeeJay · 31 Dec 06 :: 12:18

May I remind you of the 40 EUR, Anne? You can spend those on other movies as well since JF didn't work out.

-TeeJay

domesticelefant · 31 Dec 06 :: 15:31

And may I remind you that I live in the middle of nowhere, where it lasts a journey (and an amount of money) to get to the next cinema? There were so many movies I would have loved to see ... but I couldn't because either the Ludwigsburg cinema (which is the nearest one here) didn't show them or I couldn't go because of bus issues and now they're gone.
I am currently working on seeing at least Eragon. My brother gave me the book for my birthday and the trailer looks interesting too. Maybe I'll ask Elli if she wants to go, she's currently reading the book. Or I ask Chibi if she wants to see it, so I could still travel to Saarbrücken.

R2Roswell · 02 Jan 07 :: 06:21

I saw that movie but unfortunately I didn't like it. I found myself falling asleep to it.

JoA_Lover · 07 Feb 07 :: 05:56

I want to see this SO BAD!
It looks really, really good.

domesticelefant · 07 Feb 07 :: 10:55

That one is still on my movies-to-see list, but it has to wait until the DVD comes out.

TeeJay · 07 Feb 07 :: 14:05

Yeah, same here. German release date was Jan 18, but I couldn't find a theater that showed it undubbed. So DVD it is.

-TeeJay

domesticelefant · 07 Feb 07 :: 14:18

I did suggest it to Nathalie though, but she didn't want to go see this movie, so we saw Night At The Museum, which was also a nice choice.

TeeJay · 20 May 07 :: 22:04

I actually watched it on the plane on the way from Düsseldorf to Dubai. I think I've mentioned it before in some other post, but I thought to finish this off properly, I should post it here again. And for the record: I loved it too. Great performances all around and kind of a sad story. Well, with a happy ending, at least.

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 20 May 07 :: 23:08

Yeah, it's a very emotional movie. This is the kind of movie I just love to death --- one that rips my heart out only to restore my faith in the end.

b11001001 · 15 Nov 08 :: 09:41

Man, I loved this movie too. So so heartbreaking. Oh and the bathroom scene with his son always gets me.

domesticelefant · 15 Nov 08 :: 19:50

That reminds me that I bought the DVD a few months ago and yeah, I love it too. It's such a great movie.

BiggestChrisMarquetteFan · 16 Nov 08 :: 07:11

It's my favorite Will Smith movie. : )

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#1 31 Dec 06 :: 08:23

I Loved This Movie! (The Pursuit of Happyness)

#2 31 Dec 06 :: 11:29

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#3 31 Dec 06 :: 12:09

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#4 31 Dec 06 :: 12:18

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#5 31 Dec 06 :: 15:31

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#6 02 Jan 07 :: 06:21

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#7 07 Feb 07 :: 05:56

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#11 20 May 07 :: 22:04

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