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.
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Tomatometer
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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
Reviews for The Pursuit of Happyness
What ultimately keeps Happyness on track is Will Smith's perfectly pitched performance.
[Muccino] is quite skilled at hitting all the appropriate emotional peaks and valleys, though his hard logic leaves a bit to be desired.
A string of annoyances that no doubt riddled the real life of Chris Gardner, but when put in a Hollywood film, feel quite set up like dominos that fall with cliché timing.
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.
It's a solid vehicle for Smith, tailored to his personality and strengths as a star, and fueled by his utter conviction.
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.
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.
Gardner's fight is everyman's fight... to remain true to his material objectives without sacrificing that which really matters to him-- his trusting little shadow.
How is it that movies 'inspired by a real story' often feel more fake than those fully embedded in the realm of fiction?
The whole thing works. This earnest, modest, sweet little ode to paternal love is meant to warm the cockles of our hearts in a season overrun with cockle-warming, and even a recalcitrant Scrooge may sniff back a few salty droplets.
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.
The picture is skilled enough to generate some genuine pathos to go along with the more calculated melodramatics.
A hard-pressed African-American single parent and his five-year old son struggle to survive and fulfill the American dream in San Francisco in 1981.
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