Oh, the joys of capitalism. For all of the system’s glaring faults, you don’t see people dying in droves attempting to reach communist countries. In some areas of the world, rags to riches stories are reserved for those in the local warlord’s secret police. In America, we’re told that work, work and more work is the solution to all of life’s problems.
“The Pursuit of Happyness” firmly believes in the perseverance-overcomes-all spirit heartily endorsed by the majority of America’s proponents. Based on the true story of Chris Gardener who went from homeless shelters to big time success, the film certainly does paint an interesting portrait if not a particularly riveting one.
Will Smith plays Chris, who we first see as a medical equipment salesman in 1981 San Francisco. He recently sunk his family’s life savings into bone-density scanners, a piece of equipment that he discovers to be in low demand. Bills pile up, and his wife (Thandie Newton) takes off, leaving Chris with his 5-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Smith, son of Will). One day Chris spots a Ferrari outside of an investment firm and decides to ditch the medical sales profession and move up into the business world.
After some ass kissing and Rubik’s Cube trickery, Chris secures an unpaid, highly competitive internship. The already strenuous position is made all the more difficult when a train station bathroom serves as his bed, his son must be picked up early and the only potential income for six months lies within those scanners. Chris always seems to be just one step ahead of total disaster, each setback slowing him down but never bringing him to a halt.
And there are plenty of setbacks: He is hit by a car, arrested for failing to pay tickets, the IRS thieves money from his bank account and in an amusing but awkwardly repeated scenario, has his bone-density machines stolen. While mostly believable, it doesn’t take long for the point to be made and a few of these scenes would have made for a nice trim.
It’s filmed with sort of dry colors that resemble movies from the time period, with San Francisco serving as a gorgeous, intimidating reservoir of advancement possibilities. The story lacks villains. Though the businessmen demonstrate galling callousness towards Chris, they’re also friendly and helpful. His fawning over their gorgeous homes and sleek cars reminds us that Chris’ goal isn’t simply to defeat personal poverty, but to accumulate happiness through riches. Chris already has love through his son, but he wants that Ferrari too.
Oddly but wisely, the film virtually ignores the nitty gritty details of the actual investment work, instead choosing to emphasize Chris’ workplace resilience and his relationship with his son. The father and son sequences grant the story its heart, and thanks to excellent, reserved performances, these moments are affectionate without stumbling into sappiness.
“The Pursuit of Happyness” is the kind of film that certainly aims to inspire. Does it? Maybe. I’m not an expert on the subject, but my instinct tells me that the number of homeless that become self-made millionaires is a statistical anomaly.
But the homeless outside of the protagonist aren’t portrayed as a concern, the focus strictly adhering to the ascension of one seriously talented individual. Chris was born ready to conquer the challenges of capitalism, his natural talent with numbers proving more than incidental augmentation to his tireless efforts. His accomplishments are far out of the range of the ordinary individual and with a capitalist mindset that demands admiration, but provides little insight to those who can’t instantly solve a Rubik’s Cube.
3.5 out of 5
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