One man's pursuit of the American dream against all odds

Rating: 8/10 (18 December 2006)

The indomitable power of one man's spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity is the subject of "The Pursuit of Happiness," directed by Gabriele Muccino. Inspired by the real life events of Chris Gardner, a 1980s San Franciscan who lost just about everything but his faith in himself, "Pursuit" tells the story of an everyman who overcomes some serious living nightmares before he can achieve the American dream.
In a satisfyingly dramatic departure from his usual boisterous roles, Will Smith plays Gardner, a family man trying to keep his head above water in the Reagan-era economy. Early sequences show him making calls on doctors and hospitals in an attempt to sell the portable bone density scanners, which provide "only a slightly better image than an x-ray at almost twice the cost," into which he has sunk his entire fortune.
Gardner need only sell two of these machines per month to cover his overhead which, judging from where he and his wife, Linda (Thandie Newton), and their 5-year-old son (Smith's son, Jaden, in his professional debut) live, can't be much. Sadly, his efforts at entrepreneurship only lead him deeper into debt: he loses his car, is behind in his rent, and he's remiss in his taxes.
These financial woes place an understandable strain on the marriage. When Linda, already exhausted from working double shifts at a laundry, reaches the end of her rope she decides to let go, but not before she belittles her husband for dreaming that he can become a stock broker. No matter that that dream is accompanied by a plan, however farsighted.
Gardner is admitted into an elite brokerage training program, a 6-month long unpaid position in which the competition is fierce. That he has what it takes to succeed -- the ability to be "good with numbers and good with people" -- is without question. But a man, not to mention one with a child, still has to have enough money to live and to eat. It's an understatement to say that, without income, their survival becomes an enormous challenge.
The film follows Gardner as he runs (and runs and runs) all over the city to meet the demands of his declining lifestyle, struggling all the while to stay one step ahead of the next disaster. And there are many. It's a wonder he doesn't give up.
But, like the men who founded our country and wrote the Declaration of Independence on which our democratic principles are based, he doesn't. In fact, it is the preamble to that document, and its specific language about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that informs Gardner's thinking and the film itself. (The incorrect spelling of happiness in the title is taken from some graffiti Gardner takes issue with.)
Smith more than capably carries the film (and sometimes his son) on the shoulders of this already overburdened character, especially in the more heart wrenching scenes. Anyone with children (and even those without them) will recognize and respond to the love he exudes for his son, and the sense that he must stop at nothing to protect him. Come prepared with a hankie or two, and save at least a corner for the sob-filled finale.
The younger Smith is precocious, but not obnoxiously so. One is hard pressed to imagine another child in the role, so well do these two interact. Perhaps it is the chemistry between the real father and son that contributes this harmony, or maybe the boy is a natural. Regardless of the reason, the relationship works.
Cinematographer Phaedon Papamichael ("Walk the Line," "The Weather Man"), gives San Francisco an appropriately somber '80s recession look. Smith's gray-tinged Afro and disco- era moustache further convey the period with subtlety.
Although the despair of potential homelessness hardly seems like the stuff seasonal feel good films are made of, "The Pursuit of Happiness" will leave you feeling good about the world. At least until you have to go out and face it again.