Smith gives a career high-point Oscar worthy turn; a real winner

Rating: 9/10 (18 December 2006)

THE PURSUIT OF Happiness (2006) *** Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Thandie Newton, Brian Howe, James Karen, Dan Castellaneta, Kurt Fuller. Smith gives an Oscar worthy turn in the best role of his career so far in this truth-based account of a struggling middle-class man named Chris Gardner attempting to change his luck and finances by taking a huge leap of faith in an unpaid internship for a financial investor Fortune 500 company that leads to only more pitfalls and heartbreak including the dissolution of his marriage to his angered and frustrated wife (Newton precariously balancing her character from shrew to fed-up human being with dignity) and raising their only child (Smith's real-life son Jaden making an impressive debut) in the process. Steve Conrad's adaptation of Gardner's account hits all the marks impeccably and director Gabriele Muccino's reality based American dream slices of life are on the spot. But Smith is the one who should be recognized for making Gardner a flesh- and-blood everyman trying to be a better man, a loving father and a champion for the working class. A real winner.