Military Movies - Military Times

‘The Pursuit of Happyness’: Smith and son shine

Anyone who doubts the power of sheer human will should come away with a different view after seeing “The Pursuit of Happyness,” in which a man endures a cosmic beatdown of Jobian proportions and not only perseveres, but triumphs.

Yes, it’s the ultimate feel-good, inspirational, underdog-takes-on-the-world, rags-to-riches story for which anyone with even half a heart is a slam-dunk sucker.

And director Gabriele Muccino and writer Steve Conrad know it; the film — sporting the “inspired by a true story” disclaimer that should always make audiences just a little bit wary — is earnest almost to the point of being cloying, and is not above laying it on thick.

Still, a story with such near-universal appeal, coupled with some very fine performances, is a recipe for a satisfying octoplex experience.

“The Pursuit of Happyness” — the misspelling is from a bit of alleyway graffiti — is the (mostly) true story of Chris Gardner (Will Smith).

As the film opens in 1981 in San Francisco, Chris and wife Linda (Thandie Newton) are keeping themselves and their 5-year-old son, Christopher (Jaden Smith, Will’s real son), barely a half-step ahead of their creditors.

Chris has sunk all his money into a scheme to sell a medical device called a bone density scanner that offers images only marginally better than an X-ray for twice the price. Needless to say, he’s not selling many. An exhausted Linda is working double shifts, but they’re still losing ground.

So begins a long — and I mean long — downward spiral. Linda reaches the end of her rope and splits for New York. Chris, who never knew his father and won’t abandon his own son the same way, struggles on with the boy in tow, losing first their apartment, then their cheap motel room.

When the taxman swoops in to grab his overdue bill, Chris is left with $21.33, and the two are reduced to sleeping in homeless shelters.

If you’ve seen the trailers or heard the buzz, you know Chris eventually is handed a glimmer of hope, and things eventually turn around. If you haven’t, I won’t spoil it, except to say the form of the resurrection is quintessentially American.

Chris Gardner is the kind of role that Hollywood loves to love just on principle, but Smith cements his coming Oscar nomination with a finely nuanced performance, toning down his natural buoyancy to play a man who’s not even living day by day; he’s doing it minute by minute.

Smith gets several expansive scenes, but the moments that shine are the small ones — the look of consternation on his face, for example, when someone much more well off absently asks for a $5 loan for a taxi ride, and it turns out to be all the money he has left in his wallet.

The true heart of the movie, however, is undeniably the scenes featuring Will and young Master Jaden Christopher Syre Smith. The kid, who displays just the right mix of innocence and sass, certainly inherited all of Dad’s charisma genes.

One example: A mopey Christopher is pushing food around his dinner plate when his father asks, “Since when don’t you like mac-n-cheese?” Long sideways glance from the boy, then: “Since birth.”

There is one large flaw: The big emotional payoff, while powerful enough to set off waterworks throughout the theater, doesn’t arrive until 115 minutes into the movie — and it’s only 117 minutes long.

After suffering with this guy through almost two hours of uninterrupted misfortune, it would be nice to have the chance to savor just a little more of the rewards he worked so hard to achieve. Instead, they’re relegated to brief footnotes just before the credits roll.

Still, “The Pursuit of Happyness” is a pretty cool testament to the idea that nice guys sometimes do finish first.

3 stars. Rated PG-13 for language, adult themes. Got a rant or rave about the movies? E-mail cvinch@militarytimes.com.