an American dream told the Italian way

Rating: 7/10 (19 January 2007)

Nobody could deny this story is heartwarming and deep; it's only too tear jerking, too much looking, feeling and sounding like a Hallmark card. It gets to generate some pathos - on the other hand Gabriele Muccino is one of the best Italian directors - but drifting too much into melodrama. It certainly works, giving a wonderful portrait of fatherhood as well as an authentic manner of dealing with father/son relation. Smith, along with his child, succeeds in delivering an emotional performance, real and believable; someone said "The pursuit of happiness" is a nice - but not wonderful - fairy tale in a realistic way and I might agree on this opinion.