Great movie about the power of hard work and about family!

Rating: Null/10 (16 January 2007)

In many ways, The Pursuit of Happiness is a movie about hard work and its rewards, but it also bears many similarities to another great film, Life is Beautiful. Both movies feature fathers protecting their children from heartbreaking circumstances through love and imagination. One scene in particular - where Will Smith convinces his child that they have traveled into dinosaur times in order to make sleeping in a public bathroom ("cave") seem less traumatic - reminded me vividly of Life is Beautiful.
The movie, besides being about the value of hard work and the love between parent and child, is a grim look at poverty in America. Chris lives in the ever-growing San Francisco during the 1980s, and the amount of poverty and homelessness he probably over looked previously becomes painfully obvious to him once he himself is homeless. It is my sincerehope that many middle and upper class Americans will have their eyes opened to what poor people are going through today in our own country.
The last thing I have to say about this movie is concerning Will Smith and his amazing acting - Will Smith, previously seen to me only as the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, has now earned my respect for him as an actor. His emotional projection of the inner pains and struggles of Chris Gardner is nothing short of heartbreaking, and it is not only because of his struggles, but because of how much we've come to love the character himself, that we become so emotional during the last 5 minutes of the movie.
Ultimately, this was an amazing film and I think everyone without a good understanding of homelessness should see it, as well as anyone looking for an emotionally grueling, but ultimately uplifting, experience.