Great Acting!

Rating: 10/10 (12 September 2015)

I gave this movie 10/10 based solely on the acting. I though all the actors were exceptional - especially little Jayden (whose talent, sadly, seems to have evaporated now that's he's a young adult). And Thandie Newton, whom I used to regard as a well-below-average actress, was absolutely marvellous in this (though her character was severely under-developed). Will Smith was semi-believable for one -- playing an actual character (as opposed to just being Will Smith, like in most of his movies).
As for the movie itself... well, it's a somewhat touching story, and the lead character is likable and charismatic enough to make you want to root for him, but, lets face it, - the story is over-dramatized. It is highly unlikely that something like that would happen in real life.
There were several things that weren't explained properly. For example, - why continue renting a two-story house if you're 3 months behind with the rent already? What's wrong with getting an apartment, or even a room in a house with shared facilities, for example? Thousands of families in the US live in conditions that are much worse than Chris's, and many of them are single parents -- some with several children.
Why continue selling something that you can clearly see does not sell? What's wrong with getting a job -- any job? At a supermarket, warehouse, or even as a janitor or something; at this point, for Chris, any income would've been better than no income at all.
How come someone as smart as Chris ended up in these circumstances to begin with? Plus, I did have a problem with the message of this movie, which clearly is: "money equates happiness". Chris's idealization of the wealthy (and his trying to get next to them by sucking up) was a bit disturbing, actually.
Well, the message could also be interpreted differently, of course -- "shoot for the stars, be the best you can be, don't settle for less, etc.", but I didn't really see it that way. Why couldn't he just get a regular job, or even try and start his own *legitimate* business? All that energy spent on trying to sell those useless devices... surely, with his smarts and charisma, he could get any other job or do well as a business-man.
But stock broker? It is not exactly something I would call a profession, and it's certainly not something one would refer to as "honest" or "hard" work -- not sure what reason, other than the obvious one (i.e. money), one could possibly have to aspire to work in a boiler room, making money by ripping off others...
Given these arguments, you start to question the integrity and likability of the protagonist. And also - the climax was somewhat disappointing.
But anyway... it's definitely an entertaining movie, well-worth seeing. And, like I said, the acting is impeccable.