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Will Smith's latest vehicle is one of those "inspired by a true story" tales that seem destined for awards success. Sometimes these films can feel like they exist solely to win awards, but thankfully The Pursuit of Happyness rises above that. Will Smith's charisma helps a lot; without a likeable lead performance this film could fall completely flat. Indeed, it did sometimes feel like a bit of a slog, but the performances and goodwill generated for the characters kept me interested. The real standout performance is a startlingly good debut turn from Will's real life son Jaden, playing his on-screen son, who avoids the usual problems of child actors and actually seems more natural than Thandie Newton, who overacts a little as his mother. There are a couple of scenes which border on the saccharine, but director Gabriele Muccino manages to reign in the sentiment just enough. Due to the nature of the story it's quite predictable, and this does hamper the film in its slightly repetitive middle section. An enjoyable sense of humour keeps things from becoming too grim, however, and when the emotional ending arrives it's with a huge sense of satisfaction, because you really feel that you've got to know these characters.
The summary
Happyness is uplifting in the end but the road towards that point is a notch below compelling. Both Smiths are excellent though.
