The Pursuit of Happyness
Rated PG-13 for some language.
reviewed by Steven Harrell
Will Smith has pretty much done it all in the entertainment business. Starred in his own TV show, pop music icon, action hero, romantic comedy sweetheart, producer, writer, everything. Now, as he’s getting a little older, you can almost see a tint of gray in the former Fresh Prince’s hair as he takes on the family man in “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Now, my only question is whatever happened to DJ Jazzy Jeff?
Story
Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a man going through some hard times. Just a few years ago he was newly married to his beautiful wife Linda (Thandie Newton), had just bought in on a profitable business, and everything was looking up. But now the bone density scanners he spent his life savings on aren’t selling, his resentful wife is forced to work double shifts, and his son Christopher (Smith’s real-life son Jaden) is stuck going to a day care center where the main activity is watching “Bonanza.” One day while making sales calls, Chris stands at the steps of a popular financial center and realizes he needs a new job to make a better life for himself and his family.
He applies for the stockbroker intern program and makes it only to discover it’s an unpaid six-month internship. Of the 20 participants, only one will be rewarded with an actual job. To make matters worse, Linda can’t take it anymore and storms out of Chris’s life. He decides he and his son can make it work if they are able to sell off the rest of his six scanners on weekends and still be able to compete in the internship. As money gets tighter and the tough breaks just keep coming, Chris and his son fight through poverty and stay wherever they can to survive. But will the salesman with no college experience be able to make it in the high-stress world of a stockbroker?
Verdict
“The Pursuit of Happyness” isn’t a bad movie. Unfortunately, it’s not a good movie, either. This Will Smith vehicle manages to stay right at the level of mediocrity despite a few passionate moments. The film is so highly produced at every angle that it loses the heart of what could be a really great story. Gabriele Muccino, an Italian director whose film “l’ Ultimo bacio” was re-made in America as “The Last Kiss” lost a couple of key opportunities to really tug on the heartstrings of his audience.
Especially cold are the scenes of Smith in line at the homeless shelter, for instance, or spending the night in a bus-stop bathroom. These images are too clean and plainly delivered to really be gripping. In fact, there were times I had to fill in the emotional blanks for myself by wondering what it would be like to be homeless in a suit when I would have much rather Muccino show me exactly how he wanted me to feel. I just really felt like much of the desperation was lost due to a lack of passion and attention to the finer points of filmmaking.
However, Smith does a wonderful job. It seemed helpful that the producers were able to cast Smith’s own son as his on-screen supporting actor, and the relationship works well on screen. Also, the scenes between Smith and the corporate bigwigs are enjoyable to watch. I really appreciated how the film’s producers were able to avoid the “evil rich white guys doing everything they can to keep the black man down” concept that is so overdone and incredibly distasteful. In fact, almost no racial overtones crowd the film.
In short, “The Pursuit of Happyness” is worth at least a rental the next time you’re in need of an uplifting final scene. The PG-13 rating is for some rough language, including one of the biggies. Without that word the film could easily have been rated PG due to the lack of sex or violence.
Worldview:
In one of the several voiceovers, Chris Gardner muses about Thomas Jefferson’s inclusion of “the pursuit of happiness” among the more common rights to life and liberty. He says Jefferson must have known to use the word “pursuit,” because in fact happiness itself is almost impossible to achieve. Without giving too much away, toward the end of the movie Chris’s inner monologue revisits that idea and claims to have a brief moment of true happiness.
I was a little unsettled by this definition of happiness. As Chris watches the wealthy stockbrokers walk down the stairs of their place of employment he assumes that the look on their faces means that each of them seem to be happy. But looking happy is not a reliable indicator. Combine that with the notion that only people who aren’t worried about where their next paycheck is going to come from can achieve happiness, and you’ve got a pretty sad understanding of that emotion.
The Bible suggests we set aside happiness as a goal and pursue instead something deeper and richer called joy. And then it promises believers that our chase won’t be frustrated by lack of money -- or anything else. Paul talks about the joy of being justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ can be overflowing out of us on a daily basis.
Romans 5:2-4 says, “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Paul is talking about a joy that can exist through good times, bad times, average times -- any times that our souls are filled with the love of God and the guidance of His spirit. To me, that sounds a lot better than a futile pursuit of a misspelled “happyness.”
Questions:
• What’s your favorite place to see Will Smith? TV sitcoms? Music videos? Action flicks? Romantic comedies? How does “The Pursuit of Happyness” rank with all of those things?
• Did you think this movie was predictable, or were you surprised by the ending?
• What is something that you’ve worked hard for and achieved that other people thought you wouldn’t be able to accomplish?
• Why do you think people assume that happiness can only be pursued, not fully realized? What would Paul say to these people?
• How can you experience the joy of Christ in your daily life this next week?