Review: The Pursuit of Happyness

2006/PG-13/Drama

Another "based on actual events" movie that somehow misses the lesson that ought to have been learned by the main character. Chris Gardner is struggling to make ends meet selling a medical device into which he invested his family's life savings. His wife is stressed as she works two shifts to earn the bulk of their income and still care for their son. Chris decides to try to get a job as a stock broker. Of course, that means starting out with a non-paying internship.

As this movie dragged on it became less of a drama and more of a mellow drama. It was as though we were watching the beginning of Job unfold before us. His wife leaves, he can't pay his rent, he misses major appointments, he losses key pieces of equipment, the IRS takes all of his money, he gets evicted, etc, etc, etc. Not only did it get tiring, but it became depressing.

I understand that this film was designed to be a rags to riches story. I understand that it was through perseverance and wit that this man rose from the wreckage of his life. I kind of even like the message that this movie puts forth about how anyone can be successful if you actually try and don't make excuses for why you can't do it.

However, what irks me about this movie is that the way he obtained his success was through irresponsibility. His wife was working double shifts while he was ogling corvettes. She was missing work to pick up their son while he was struggling to sell what turned out to be a terrible investment.

Not only that, but the entire movie is about the pursuit of happiness. His wife pursues it by leaving. His son's pursuit is by being with his dad. His pursuit of happiness seems to be the pursuit of money. If it were for stability, he could have gotten a paying job during the week and tried to sell his contraptions on the weekends (which he does while interning and going without pay). If it's love, he has the love of his son, and he could have worked to keep the love of his wife.

In the end, all of the things that he did: not taking a real job, not working to save his marriage, not ensuring that his son had a stable place to live, not being responsible enough to keep his car; they were acceptable because he made it. I was willing to give the filmmakers the benefit of the doubt until the final "epilogue" was written on the screen. It left no doubt, the emphasis of the movie was on the money.

I think the most difficult part about this movie is that Will Smith and his son Jayden put forth fantastic performances. Their frustration, struggle, and moments of love and levity are so true and real that we experience those events right along side of them. If the movie were more poorly acted, it might have been easier to watch.

I knew what the movie was about and yet it still depressed me. The acting was good, the message and emotional after taste was terrible. From here on out I shall refer to this movie as "The Pursuit of Crappyness":

0.5 out of 5 stars.