An Inspirational Film That Will Leave You Clapping

Rating: 7/10 (14 November 2010)

The drama The Pursuit of Happiness is directed by Gabriele Muccino and stars Will Smith, Jaden Smith, and Thandie Newton. The film takes place in 1980 San Francisco.
Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a middle aged man who sells bone density scanners for a living, which does not serve his life style very well. He is smarter than most, and is very good with people. That is why when he sees a man parking his sports car he asks him what his job is. The man just happens to be a stock broker so Gardner decides to apply for an internship program which gives out no pay. When Chris's financial situation gets so bad his girlfriend (Newton) goes to New York to get a better paying job leaving Chris and his son (Jaden Smith) alone and broke. Chris must get the stock broker job to give his son an appropriate lifestyle to grow up in or they will end up homeless and starving...
The screenplay for this film by Steve Conrad is very traditional. It is just the usual uplifting story with all its highs and lows. Yes, the characters of Chris Gardner and Chris Jr. are very likable and the type of protagonists an audience loves to root for. But I thought it was cruel how characters such as Chris's girlfriend Linda are portrayed as a villain. She is going through the same situation as Chris and offers to take their son with her to New York but still the writing makes her appear as a villain. The main focus of the film is money and it seems like Chris Gardner will not be satisfied until he lives a luxurious life like those that he works for. On the plus side there are several very funny and enjoyable moments in the film, I will not spoil them for those of you who have not seen it. This is a very predictable film though, but is still enjoyable.
Gabriele Muccino's direction was not anything really noteworthy. Again I would have to blame the way Linda is portrayed also on him but compliment him for all the great segments of comedy. In no way did any of the shots make me impressed at any point, like Conrad's screenplay the shot selection is very traditional. Muccino did get very good performances from basically the whole cast of the film, never at one point did I think to myself I can't enjoy this film because of how bad that actor is doing.
Speaking of the acting I will start with Will Smith's Oscar nominated performance. I have yet to see the film Ali which he was also nominated for but this is the best that I have ever seen him do. He is extremely likable, as he is in all of his films, but he almost forces the audience to want him to succeed. This film was Jaden Smith's first performance and he made an outstanding debut. Young Smith played the role of an extremely cute kid who just wants a normal life perfectly and supplied much of the comedic relief. Thandie Newton plays the part of the evil girlfriend Linda and plays it very well since she is very unlikable during the film even though she should be very relatable. The rest of the supporting cast does a fine job and keep this uplifting drama going.
The score for this film is very good and appropriate. It added another layer to the stress going on in the film or added light heartedness when it was an enjoyable part. Andrea Guerra's score was definitely one of the strongest parts of the film and is another addition to his impressive resume.
Overall I give this film a 7/10, it is very traditional and predictable but features some fine performances. This is a good movie and I'm sure that anyone who watches this will enjoy it even though they will think it is corny. This was probably Will Smith's last good movie and hopefully in the future he will be the Will Smith we all know in love instead of trying to get an Oscar so much. Definitely see this if you want to watch and inspirational feel good film, don't see this if you are looking for something original and thought provoking.