Pursuit of Happyness

"The Pursuit of Happyness" is an intentional heart-tugger that accomplishes its task. While the ending may seem obvious, it's still worth the time to watch how we get there.

Will Smith stars as Chris Gardner, a 30-year old man struggling to survive in 1980s San Francisco. "Struggling" is probably putting it much too lightly. His only job is selling overpriced bone scanning machines, his wife (Thandie Newton) works two jobs, and his son goes to a Chinese daycare where they watch "Bonanza". On top of that, he can't pay rent, his wife eventually leaves him, and he and his son (real-life son Jaden Smith) are left homeless. Gardner just can't catch a break, despite the fact that he has an innate ability with numbers.

He eventually does get a chance to interview for an internship opportunity with Dean Witter Reynolds to hopefully become a stock broker. Even the interview becomes problematic as Gardner gets arrested the night before for parking ticket violations. The other problem is that the internship is an unpaid position with no guarantee of placement at the end of the program. Chris has to find a way for he and his son to survive over a period of months with only a glimmer of hope for future success.

While "Happyness" is based on a true story, there are certainly elements in the movie that have been created for theatrical effect. Even so, Gardner's persistence, ambition, and devotion to his son are incredibly inspiring. There are so many opportunities where he could have easily given up but didn't, where he could have fallen into a darker life but refused to, that make you want to see him succeed. Anything less won't be acceptable to him or to us. Again, you know how the story is going to end, but you'll still be moved. "The Pursuit of Happyness" will make you question what happiness means in your life, and will make appreciate your own pursuit of it even more. This one is worth your time. I give it an A.

"The Pursuit of Happyness" is rated PG-13 with a running time of 116 minutes.