The Pursuit of Happyness A Movie Review	MPAA Rated - PG-13 It's 1:56 Long A Review by The Dude on the Right

"The Pursuit of Happyness" gives us the Hollywooded story of Chris Gardner, a struggling salesman and father who goes from homeless shelters to being a millionaire. I say the Hollywooded story because there are instantly differences simply because in Chris’ real story, his son is 2 year’s old, whereas in the movie, little Christopher, played by Will Smith’s son, Jaden, is 5. In any case, it doesn’t make a difference because the basic story holds on. Pretty much Chris is hitting a low point in his life. He invested his family’s savings in a medical device doctors didn’t really want, and struggled every month to sell one or two just to make the rent. Meanwhile, his wife, Linda (Thandie Newton) works double-shifts to help make ends meet, but eventually even she is tired of Chris’ not being able to pay the rent. She bolts to New York, and Chris insists little Christopher stay with him.

With his wife gone, Chris has his sights set on a new life, a prosperous life, and thinks he can find it by being a stockbroker at Dean Winter. Accepted into an internship at Dean Winter, Chris, upon realizing he wouldn’t be getting paid during this time, at first considers not accepting the position, but then he sees he might have a chance to balance no income at Dean Winter by still selling the bone scan devices he got snookered into sinking his money into. It’s tough for Chris, dropping his son off at the Chinatown Day Care, hopping buses and trains back and forth for work, but he seems to be maintaining, up until a tax lien leaves him flat broke, and on the street. But Chris is one determined dude, doing everything he can to keep food in his son’s stomach and someplace to sleep at night. He doesn’t want to give his son up to foster care because of his own childhood where he didn’t have a father, and uses every resource to keep them together.

Sure, we know the story is going to have a happy ending, because, well, it does. Chris Gardner gets hired by Dean Winter (in a scene that might be what tips it for Will Smith to get an Academy Award nomination), and Chris seems to be able to finally be happy. (Although in real life, Chris still had challenges, especially in starting his own brokerage firm in Chicago, but that still worked out well for him).

Not having read the book, I can’t make the direct comparison of movie to book life, but my guess is that the book is a lot better. It’s not that the movie is bad, but there was something missing, and I haven’t been able to put my finger on it. It wasn’t Will’s performance as Chris because he was fantastic. You could see the struggles, pain, and shear joy Chris must have gone through during that year in his life. Jaden Smith was also good in his role as little Christopher, able to show love for his dad yet still not understanding why they can’t sleep at the motel they get evicted from. I didn’t care that much for Thandie Newton’s portrayal of Linda, but that didn’t seem to be what distracted me during the movie. I suppose the only thing I can say is that from the trailer, and the interviews the real Chris Gardner was doing here in Chicago before the movie came out, there really wasn’t anything to surprise me while watching the film.

And so, I guess I’ll wrap things up like this…

For me, "The Pursuit of Happyness" is a 3 star out of 5 movie that you will still enjoy, mostly because of Will Smith. The story is one of sticking with your dreams, trusting in your ability, and doing whatever it takes to make life better for you and your family. There are times you might get a little bored during the movie, but stick through it for the perfect ending where Will Smith, as Chris, shows difficult obstacles can be tackled, as long as you don’t think a bulky box holding a bone scan machine is a time machine that will get you back to the ‘60’s and Jimi Hendrix, it actually gets you back to the time of the dinosaurs.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!