Of Fatherly Love

I almost forgot to tell you I saw The Pursuit of Happyness this weekend.

In the movie, Will Smith plays Chris Gardner, a bright and talented but marginally employed salesman struggling to make ends meet in 1980s San Francisco, who finds himself and his five-year-old son, Christopher (played by Smith’s own son, Jaden), evicted from their San Francisco apartment with nowhere to go and nothing but a few belongings to call their own and a dream of a better life so palpable he can touch it.

The Pursuit of Happyness is a very conventional movie based on the true story of a man whose rags-to-serious-riches story attracted the interest of movie producers after he was featured on 20/20 a few years ago.

However, it also a movie that represents a departure for Smith, who delivers a formidable performance that should cement his status as an actor and not just a movie star.

Smith allows you to see the hope and want in his eye when he lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, and feel the dignified heartbreak of the many hardships through which fathers puts son (including living in shelters), and the love Gardner has for Christopher.

I predict another Oscar nomination for Smith, although not for the movie (never mind that its game is greatly elevated by the onetime Fresh Prin…sorry, by the actor).

My Rating ***

Photo: Columbia Pictures.