The Pursuit of Happyness

Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a dedicated family man who lives with his constantly double-shifting wife Linda (Tandiwe Newton) and their curious young son Christopher (Jaden Smith) but they are always in debt. He makes a living selling portable bone density scanners - that look a little like cat boxes - and they aren't exactly flying out the door. Then he espies Jay (Brian Howe) parking his bright red sports car and asks just how he got it. He's a stockbroker, is the reply, and anyone can do it if you've the gift of the gab and an head for figures. He declares to Linda that this is now his goal. She packs her stuff and takes their son elsewhere - he hasn't an hope in hell of becoming a stockbroker! Well initially that would appear to be true, but now taking the young lad to live with him and sleeping in a combination of homeless hostels and very cheap hotels he sets about ingratiating himself with Jay. His solving of a troublesome Rubik's Cube puzzle might just have helped as he is given an opportunity to join a salary-free internship at his company - but aside from the nine-to-five grind in his suit, he is still having to sell his machine to make some cash and keep some sort of roof over his and his son's head. What this man certainly has is confidence. He hasn't a clue about what he is selling, but his mix of determination, amiability and preparedness to take risks might just impress his bosses enough for them to actually pay him? No, there's not really very much jeopardy here and the conclusion, when it comes, is all a bit to predictable - but along the way Smith demonstrates his ability to portray quite a flawed, but thoroughly decent, character effectively. The scene stealer is, of course, the younger version whose joke about god, the drowning fisherman and the boats is delivered in an engagingly dead-pan fashion that rather sums up the efforts of this young actor and the importance of his character in keeping his father motivated and, quite possibly, sane too. This also offers us quite a poignant critique on the disparities of life in a city where great wealth sits only streets away from livings much more abject and by mixing examples of human kindness with equally human venality, the Smiths present something that's entertaining to watch and just a little thought-provoking, too.