best acting performances of the year so far

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2007)

This year is but 9 days old, and I already know I have seen the best movie of the year. The history books will show that this film was released in 2006, but nothing from that year can compare to this either, so it is in my opinion the best movie of two years! Will Smith plays a struggling single father trying to make the best life that he can for his family and for himself. The part is played to perfection, and shows a true master of the craft. His comic timing is still evident in the lighter moments, but it is his sincerity in playing a man with no options, no family, no help and little hope that shows him shining.
Special praise should also be reserved for Will's own son Jaden, who plays Christopher Gardner Jnr. Some people hate child actors, but its perhaps that they are not good child actors... Jaden is a great one. I challenge anyone to point to a scene where he even gives the slightest of hints that he is acting... perhaps it was perfect casting to put a real father and son together here, as they are an outstanding double act playing themselves in different, more downtrodden circumstances.
I rarely give movies a full 10, but this throughly deserved it, and should be an example to us all on how movies should be made, and even how we look at our own lives and wonder if we are living up to our own potential in our own "pursuit of happiness" Outstanding.