Great Performances from Will and Jaden Smith

Rating: 7/10 (12 October 2014)

While "The Pursuit of Happiness" sometimes falls into schmaltzy, over-the-top drama, what really saves it is the acting by Will and Jaden Smith. The film is set in 1981. Chris Gardner (Will Smith) invests all of his money into a stock of portable bone-density scanners, which he hopes to sell to doctors. Unfortunately, these prove very difficult to sell and eventually, his wife becomes fed up with the financial hardships brought on by this hare-brained scheme and leaves him and their young son Christopher (Jaden Smith). Eventually falling to the point of poverty where the father and child have to live on the streets, Chris determined to claw his way out of this hole.
Both actors really sell us on the hardships and moments of joy that their characters experience and it's satisfying to see them make their way through countless obstacles. As the movie passes by, you get more involved in it and you will be left cheering when they triumph over adversity. A movie that isn't as good would have added a villain or a rival for Chris Gardner (Will Smith's character) to compete with and this character would predictably have turned around at the very end to help our hero succeed. While this movie isn't perfect it doesn't fall into cheap and obvious trappings such as this. It's also a good film about a strong (and pretty realistic) father and son relationship, complete with all the not so glamorous patches. (Dvd, October 8, 2012)