The Pursuit of Happyness DVD Review

"The Pursuit Of Happyness" reviews

DVD

The Pursuit Of Happyness

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2007-05-10 15:00:15

Provider

DVD Review

Will Smith makes the transition from big budget blockbusters to something far more emotional and thought-provoking here.

The Pursuit Of Happyness tells the true story of Chris Gardner - a man who really has to battle against the odds to achieve his goal. Or should that be pursue his goal as Gardner points out the importance of the word PURSUIT in Thomas Jefferson's Declaration Of Independence.

He is initially seen trying to unsuccessfully sell bone density reading contraptions to doctors. This leads to his wife leaving him, but Gardner insists that his five-year-old son (played admirably by Smith's real life boy) stays with him. It's the early '80s, Reagan is in the White House, and while there are opportunities, times are hard for many including the intelligent but unqualified Gardner who takes his son to a day care centre where the kids watch Loveboat and Bonanza and the word happiness is misspelt, as in the title, on the window.

Unfortunate events unfold and Gardner senior and junior are soon sleeping rough in contrast to the people who Gardner sees coming out of a tall building and one in particular with a flash car. After making enquiries, bluffing and impressing with Rubik Cube skills, he bags himself an internship with the company, Dean Witter.

From then on he's seen juggling with the non-paid path to potential happiness and looking after his son in poverty.

Smith fully deserved his Oscar-nomination for this role (and it took a special Forest Whitaker performance to beat him), as he adeptly conveys the whole gamut of emotions without being OTT while the film also benefits from Italian director Gabriele Muccino's outsider view of the American dream.

Special features include director's commentary, Making Pursuit: An Italian Take on the American Dream, Father and Son: On Screen and Off, The Man Behind The Movie: A Conversation with Chris Gardner and Inside the Rubik's Cube.