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Movies / Upcoming / The Pursuit of Happyness
The Pursuit of Happyness

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The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

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Reviews Counted:165

Fresh:109

Rotten:56

Average Rating:6.4/10

Consensus: Will Smith’s heartfelt performance elevates The Pursuit of Happyness above mere melodrama.

Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $162,586,036

Synopsis: In The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a family man struggling to make ends meet. Despite his valiant attempts to help keep the family afloat, the mother (Thandie Newton) of his... In The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a family man struggling to make ends meet. Despite his valiant attempts to help keep the family afloat, the mother (Thandie Newton) of his five-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Christopher Syre Smith) is buckling under the constant strain of financial pressure. No longer able to cope, she reluctantly decides to leave. Chris, now a single father, continues doggedly to pursue a better-paying job using every sales skill he knows. He lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, and although there is no salary, he accepts, hopeful he will end the program with a job and a promising future. Without a financial cushion, Chris and his son are soon evicted from their apartment and forced to sleep in shelters, bus stations, bathrooms, or wherever they can find refuge for the night. Despite his troubles, Chris continues to honor his commitment as a loving and caring father, using the affection and trust his son has placed in him as an impetus to overcome the obstacles he faces. Columbia Pictures presents in association with Relativity Media an Overbrook Entertainment/Escape Artists Production The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith, Thandie Newton and introducing Jaden Christopher Syre Smith. The film is directed by Gabriele Muccino and written by Steven Conrad. The producers are Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch, James Lassiter and Will Smith. The executive producers are Louis D’Esposito, Mark Clayman, David Alper and Teddy Zee. The director of photography is Phedon Papamichael, ASC. The production designer is J. Michael Riva. The film editor is Hughes Winborne, A.C.E. The costume designer is Sharen Davis. The music is by Andrea Guerra. The Pursuit of Happyness has been rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for Some Language. The Pursuit of Happyness will be released by Columbia Pictures on December 15, 2006. -- © Columbia Pictures [More]

Starring: Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Dan Castellaneta, Thandie Newton

Starring: Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Dan Castellaneta, Thandie Newton, Brian Howe

Director: Gabriele Muccino

Director: Gabriele Muccino
Screenwriter: Steve Conrad
Producer: Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch, James Lassiter
Studio: Columbia Pictures

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Reviews for The Pursuit of Happyness

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; Australian critics are listed first)
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Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
01/13/07
Sydney Morning Herald
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Full Review Source: In Film Australia | comment Comment
02/02/07
Luke Buckmaster
Luke Buckmaster
In Film Australia
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Directed by talented young Gabriele Muccino, the film benefits from his outsider's observations, and he is far too smart a filmmaker to let schmaltz creep into the tone.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
01/05/07
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
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This is the saddest Will Smith movie I've ever seen. But the worser it gets the more you know how it'll come out at the end.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment 15 Comments
12/06/06
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

Guitar-strumming hippie chicks, homeless nutcases, Chinese-speaking day care operators and non-Smith black folks -- bad; rich white stock brokers with box seats at 49ers games -- good.

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment 9 Comments
12/15/06
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

The character of Christ... er, I mean Chris Gardner gets beaten down so much - and has a complete absence of faults - that it's really unbelievable.

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment 9 Comments
12/15/06
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

A fairy tale in realist drag, The Pursuit of Happyness is the kind of entertainment that goes down smoothly until it gets stuck in your craw.

comment 9 Comments
12/14/06
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

How is it that movies 'inspired by a real story' often feel more fake than those fully embedded in the realm of fiction?

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment 7 Comments
12/14/06
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

A message that should bring tears to the eyes of The Man everywhere.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment 6 Comments
12/13/06
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

[Muccino] is quite skilled at hitting all the appropriate emotional peaks and valleys, though his hard logic leaves a bit to be desired.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment 4 Comments
12/14/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

By reducing the story of homelessness to only Chris Gardner's, The Pursuit of Happyness is saying that anybody can get out of the gutter by simply really, really wanting to do better.

Full Review Source: CHUD | comment 3 Comments
12/13/06
Devin Faraci
Devin Faraci
CHUD

It’s not about happiness. It’s about money. The film boasts of how many millions Gardner makes. Is he happy? You bet. It’s like being forced to watch self-help videos, while Mr Motivator molests you.

Full Review Source: thelondonpaper | comment 3 Comments
01/14/07
Stuart McGurk
Stuart McGurk
thelondonpaper

[An] honorable but dogged effort.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment 2 Comments
12/14/06
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek

Deserves kudos for avoiding saccharine sentiment, but its relentless emphasis on money as the cure for all ills is depressing. They might as well have called it The Pursuit of Richyness.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment 2 Comments
01/14/07
Paul Arendt
Paul Arendt
BBC

The American Dream as white, rich and all male.

Full Review Source: WBAI Web Radio | comment 2 Comments
03/21/07
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
WBAI Web Radio

In his first English-language feature, Muccino plays it disappointingly safe, leaving creativity by the wayside and adopting a conservative by-the-numbers style. The result is terribly maudlin and predictable.

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment 1 Comment
12/14/06
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

This is one of the few American movies to deal with how people live and survive. It admires smart brokers but also feels for the many people down below, and we know that Chris will not claim his 'happyness' by becoming a cold fish in a glass office.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment 1 Comment
12/15/06
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

Like other institutions designed to separate you from your money, Hollywood grows a conscience every year at this time.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment 1 Comment
12/15/06
Duane Dudek
Duane Dudek
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Relentlessly grim but in a phony, Hollywood kinda way.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment 1 Comment
01/14/07
Jamie Graham
Jamie Graham
Total Film

... this is a slick studio production with a huge movie star and top professionals occupying every production role so that the polish of this well-made film makes even homelessness look neat and tidy.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment 1 Comment
12/07/06
Kirk Honeycutt
Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter
 
 
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