Susan Granger’s review of “The Pursuit of Happyness” (Columbia/Sony)
Based on a true story, this touching rags-to-riches tale takes its name from the misspelling of “happiness” scrawled on the wall of a San Francisco daycare center where Chris Gardner (Will Smith) deposits his five year-old son (Jaden Smith) every morning.
Back in 1981, Chris was an eager, industrious medical equipment salesman but most doctors weren’t interested in buying the high-density bone scanners in which he’d invested his savings. Financially desperate after his wife (Thandie Newton) leaves him, he recalls Thomas Jefferson’s words in the Declaration of Independence and resolves to pursue his version of the American dream – becoming a stockbroker. That involves a big risk: competing with many other candidates during a six-month unpaid internship at Dean Witter Reynolds while enduring extreme financial hardship, including eviction and homelessness. Throughout this ordeal, Chris’ charismatic good humor, idealistic faith and dogged persistence never waver nor does his determination to keep his son with him and, using light-hearted fantasy, to protect the boy from emotional harm.
Inspired by a “20/20” segment on Chris Gardner’s ordeal, screenwriter Steve Conrad (“The Weather Man”) adds key dramatic elements, like Gardner’s amazing ability to solve the Rubik’s cube, along with a running amusement about the repeated theft and retrieval of missing bone scanners. Italian director Gabriele Muccino (“The Last Kiss”) artfully captures the angst of anxiety and the universality of hope.
In an understated departure from wisecracking roles, Will Smith embodies the essential anguish, exhaustion and tenacity for this struggle, and it’s not surprising that believable affection spills onto the screen since little Jaden Smith is Smith’s real-life son. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Pursuit of Happyness” is an optimistic, inspirational 8. The loving father-son relationship becomes a heartwarming holiday fable.
