The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This movie will absolutely toss your emotions around like a rag doll. You will find yourself actually quite invested in the protagonist, cheering for him with all you have to be successful. Will Smith is incredibly compelling as a motivated man who is quite frankly, just unlucky. You truly feel as though his success is your success, and his failure is your failure. If this movie does not motivate you to strive to be the best you can be, then there's something wrong with you!

So many reviews (600+) and only about the first/top thirty get read/acknowledged. I'm not sure I saw the film the same way as others. The kid (Jadeen Smith) was great. The father seemed to be a con man, as if a continuation of "Six Degrees of Separation". There were not enough scenes of connecting with his son and too many of him being short (angry) that I would have thought the child would be conflicted as to where he stood. Then there was no satisfactory showing how things changed, if they did, once success was achieved. Was the relationship better? Were they spending quality time together or did the 'pusuit of happiness' continue to interfere?

Two hours following the falling of a man and his child since to become homeless. Will Smith is a great actor, but the movie is so boring! The dialogues are artificiously, full of beautiful words in the Hollywood style: shiny but unreal. The biggest problem of The Pursuit of Happyness is its own meaning: Happiness = Money. Maybe you can cry watching this movie, but you will cry for a very poor reason, and the day after you'll have completely forgot the movie.

Will Smith's sympathetic performance drives this emotional drama inspired by true events. It's an examination of life at its hardest, not succumbing to the hardships we're faced with, and that persevering can unlock that door which only had a glimmer of light behind it to begin with. Oscar-nominated Will Smith plays Chris Gardner, a talented, marginally employed salesman who struggles financially to keep his family together. Early on in the film his wife leaves him, but Chris is vigilant in caring for his son - played by real life son Jaden - no matter what. He persists every day to make ends meet, getting an internship at a stock brokerage firm, and putting every ounce of strength into shielding his son from the dire circumstances he's forced into. It's that distant, unlikely dream, driving him forward every day, and the result is an emotionally resonant drama with some serious moments, and a few light-hearted ones comedic scenes, with many unlucky moments befalling our protagonist. Strongly acted and well written, the film is entertaining from beginning to end... to a fault. It can feel a bit tonally uneven given the events taking place, with the comedy defusing an otherwise depressing scene and slightly undermining the films attempt to emotionally engage fully, because it could have been a masterpiece of raw emotion had it chose a harsher path without detraction of humour. But The Pursuit of Happiness, by the end, earns your happy tears whilst sending a clear and deliberate message about aiming for life's ever elusive dream of a happiness, and the ability to succeed, something that should resonate amongst us all; those who are currently in a plight, and those who've risen against it, fought it, and won. 8/10