This Part of My Life

Rating: 7/10 (29 December 2006)

Greetings again from the darkness. This film has the feel of a Disney movie where the story is just too unbelievable for real life. The difference here is that it is the TRUE story of Chris Gardner. Sure, the story is entirely from his point of view and the only bits we get of his wife are as an angry, bitter, fed up Thandie Newton who just boils over with disgust at her life with Chris.
The pleasure in this film is watching the scenes with Will Smith (as Mr. Gardner) and Jaden Smith (his real life son). The spirit of these two and the perseverance the display are very uplifting. Nice support work is offered by Dan Castellanata (voice of Homer Simpson) and Kurt Fuller.
Director Gabriele Muccino steps into his first mainstream Hollywood film and does a pretty good job in most scenes. The "action" scenes of Smith running in the streets are a bit hokey, but I really enjoyed the more personal moments. Overall, pretty good film of an amazing story. Also, don't miss the real Chris Gardner walking past Will Smith and his son at the end ... during the best "knock-knock" joke ever!